Wish You Were Here
by Spydurwebb
Summary: Set in the Trividian Universe. What happens when Sue is stationed abroad, and Sarah's past catches up with her. Includes Sarah, Luke, the 10th Doctor, Harry Sullivan and a couple of old friends.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: This takes place in the same world as my Doctor Who story Trividian Conundrum. Without having to read all of that, the short version and what is pertinent to this is that after the Doctor dropped Sarah off in Aberdeen, she had a brief relationship with Harry Sullivan, Susan being the product of that relationship. Set after "We Are A Constant", this is mostly a series of phone conversations between our characters. Of course all the regular characters belong to the BBC, they just feed my imagination._**

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Susan Sullivan drove down the road practically cursing the traffic as her mobile rang. She pushed the button to kick it into hands-free mode. 'Hello,' she answered harshly.

'Sue, it's Luke.'

She smiled, all previous foul language pushed to the back of her mind. 'Hey little brother, what's up?'

'How's America?'

Susan laughed. 'I'm sitting in bloody awful traffic at the moment. I would've thought they had better ways of dealing with it, but this area is almost worse than home. It's days like this I'm thankful this isn't a permanent thing. Everything going all right on the home front?'

'Yes, but I need your help on something.'

'Anything, just name it.'

'You know how Mum's birthday is coming up. I'm lost on ideas as to what to get her.'

'You know she won't want a big fuss. Just you spending time together is good.'

'That's what she says. I just wanna do something nice for her.'

Susan slammed on brakes as the car in front of her did as well. 'I tell you what, Luke, let me think on it for a couple of days and get back to you.'

'Sounds good, Sue, thanks. Oh, you might want to give Mum a call. That whole Rakweed thing is still getting to her. Did you know she used a gun against the Blathereen in Antarctica? You know how she feels about guns.'

Susan frowned. 'Yep, I do, and I know why too. I'll talk to her. Thanks for letting me know.' She pulled into the car park and turned off the car. 'Luke, I'll catch up with you later, all right?'

'Yeah, talk to you soon.'

Susan clicked off the phone and headed towards the restaurant. As she walked in the door, she quickly scanned the dining area and smiled as she saw the person she was meeting. She walked over and gave the man a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting opposite him. 'Sorry I'm late, traffic was awful.'

He smiled, 'It takes a while to get used to it, I have to admit.' He reached out and took her hand, 'Sue, I have to ask, do you want to get used to it?'

Susan shrugged, 'I'm not sure, Alan, to be honest. They didn't make my transfer here permanent. I would imagine it will depend on how things go.'

'Well, being the entire Washington office does give you a little bit of freedom.'

Susan looked at the smile on Alan Jackson's face. 'UNIT figured that as many aliens as you and Maria were meeting up with, we needed a presence here.' She took a sip of her water. 'One of these days, I'm going to get you to finally tell me how you two got started in all of this.'

Alan shook his head. 'I don't think so, Captain Sullivan. We can't risk identifying our source.' His tone was light, but his words were serious. 'Our experience in the Universe has led both of us to protect our own.' He leaned forward and whispered, 'Even if I am in love with the person who's asking.'

Susan blushed and looked down. 'I'll get it out of you one day, I promise.'

'Change of topic. Maria wants you to come over for dinner tonight.'

'Depends on who's cooking.'

'Ha ha.' Then he smiled. 'Maria is.'

Susan laughed, 'It's a deal then.'

~!~!~!~

Susan waited as the phone connection simply rang before her mother finally picked up. Without any pretenses, Susan got straight to the point. 'Are you all right?'

Sarah gave a small laugh. 'Hello to you too, Susan.'

'Hi. Now, are you all right?'

'Of course, Sue, why wouldn't I be?'

'Mum, Luke told me what happened with the Rakweed, and with you going to Antarctica.'

Sarah sighed. 'You know my feelings about guns, Sue.'

Susan rolled her eyes, even knowing Sarah couldn't see it. 'Yes, I do. That's why I asked how you were. I know how you get when you have to pick up a gun for any reason, much less to protect your child. You had to do it for me, and now you've had to do it for Luke.'

'And I'd do it all over again for either one of you.'

Susan replied softly. 'I know Mum, I know.'

'I've killed for both of you.' Sarah paused. 'There should've been another way.'

Susan sighed, she knew what it meant for Sarah to admit to the taking of another life, regardless of the circumstances. It went against the very grain of her character, but defending a child put everything else in perspective. 'We both know how the Universe works, Mum. Sometimes, there isn't a better way, and sometimes you're not given an alternative.'

'How long are you going to be in America?'

'I'm not sure to be honest. Things have gotten more complicated than I anticipated.'

'What do you mean?'

'Um, well, it's hard to explain.'

Susan could hear the smile in Sarah's voice as she asked, 'Are you going to try?'

'Nope, at least not yet.'

~!~!~!~

Luke opened up a webcam call with Susan on his laptop. 'Did you get an idea?' Luke asked.

'I need to come home.'

'Permanently?'

'Well, I need to come home for Mum's birthday. Given what she's gone through this year, it'll be good for all of us to be together.'

Luke saw the expression on her face. 'Sue, there's something you're not telling me, isn't there.'

'Luke, do you know why Mum feels the way she does about guns?'

'Because the Doctor taught her there was a better way?'

Susan laughed, 'Well, partly. What has Mum told you about the trip she and I took to Trivid when I was a teenager?'

Luke shook his head. 'Not much. Only that you guys helped defeat a ruthless dictator.'

'Without going into a lot of unnecessary details, that dictator threatened to kill me and had a gun to my head. That same dictator had done some really bad things to Mum, and she did the only thing she could do to save me, and that was to shoot the dictator.'

'The same way she caused the Blathereen to self destruct for what they'd done to me.'

'Similar, yea. Luke, this is between you and me, but Mum went through a really rough spot when we got back. How is she doing now?'

'She's been quieter than usual, keeping to herself and working a lot more on her freelance work.'

Susan sighed. 'That's it, I'm definitely coming home. Tell you what Luke, don't tell Mum. It'll be our surprise, all right?'

'Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Sue.'

~!~!~!~

Maria stood in the kitchen in front of the stove stirring the pot of boiling liquid. 'This can't be right, Luke!' she said loudly, a hint of panic in her voice.

Across the room, her laptop sat open, where she could see Luke fidgeted on the screen. 'You followed the recipe exactly, yea?'

'Yea, but it's not thickening like you said it would.'

'I've never actually made it before,' he admitted quietly.

Maria stalked over from the stove to stand in front of the laptop. 'What do you mean you've never made it?'

'It was a recipe the Zafarsans gave Mum when she was finally able to get them home. They said it was one of their favourites.'

Maria put her hands on her hips. 'Has Sarah Jane ever made it?'

'I don't know. I can ask her when comes upstairs.'

Maria finally just shook her head and laughed. 'Oh well, if they hate it, they hate it.'

'Who's "they"?'

'I asked Dad to bring his new girlfriend over. She's awesome Luke, knows about aliens and all of that. Get this, she's English too. Worked for UNIT, but they've posted her over here, who knows for how long though. I think Dad's hoping it's permanent.'

Luke raised an eyebrow. 'Really?'

'Don't worry, we've not told her about you or Sarah Jane at all.'

'Good. Mum would have a fit if anyone found out.'

Just then, Alan and Susan walked into the kitchen. 'Maria, we're here.'

'Hey Maria,' Susan said with a smile.

'Hiya.' She went over and hugged both Alan and Susan.

From the laptop, Luke had a confused look on his face. 'Sue?'

Susan spun around and looked at the laptop. 'Luke?'

In the attic in Ealing, Sarah walked in and saw on Mr. Smith's viewscreen that he was talking to Maria. Smiling, she walked up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. As Susan walked into view, Sarah gasped, her arm falling off Luke's shoulders. 'Sue?'

Maria turned to Susan, 'Sarah Jane and Luke. They know you! How is that possible?'

Susan looked from Maria to Alan, smiling sheepishly, then turned back to the screen as Sarah said, 'We should. Shouldn't we, Sue?'

Susan laughed slightly, knowing all eyes were on her. 'I guess I haven't done very well on keeping you up on current events, huh? Hi Mum.'

Maria choked, 'Mum? Sarah Jane is your Mum?' She quickly turned back to Sarah, 'Sarah Jane, you never said you had a daughter.'

'We all have our secrets, Maria,' Sarah admitted.

'This is really big!' Maria turned to her dad, 'Dad?'

Alan put an arm around Susan's waist. 'As large as the Universe is, I think ours just got a whole lot smaller.'

Susan nodded and laughed, 'I tend to agree with you, Alan.'

~!~!~!~

Two weeks later, Susan crept up the stairs to the attic. She cracked open the door, peeking in and seeing Sarah sitting at desk working. Smiling, she knocked on the attic door and opened it. 'Hey Mum, may I come in?'

Sarah turned quickly at Susan's voice, then stood and quickly wrapped her daughter in a warm hug. 'Sue, what are you doing here?'

'Happy Birthday, Mum.'

'You didn't come all the way here to tell me that.'

Susan laughed, 'True.' She took Sarah by the hand and led her to the nearby sofa. 'Actually, I wanted to see you for myself.'

Sarah gave Susan a look. 'All right, now you sound like the parent. What is going on?'

'I'm worried about you, Mum.'

'Why?'

Susan frowned. 'Well, I needed to see for myself how you were doing after the few months you've had.'

'You mean with the Blathereen?' Susan didn't respond, just continued to look at Sarah, so she continued, 'And after Peter?'

Susan finally nodded. 'Last time I talked to Dad, he said he was worried about you. And then I get a call from Luke after the whole Rakweed thing, and he was worried too. I'd been sent off to America almost as soon as I got back from travelling with the Doctor, so I'd not been able to really see for myself how you were processing everything.'

'Susan, I'm fine. Honestly.' Sarah leaned over and hugged Susan. Pulling back, she reached out and patted Susan's hands. 'I appreciate you worrying, you know I do, but I'm all right. It was tough at first, but the situation with the Blathereen wasn't like what happened with us on Trivid. I may have had Mr. Smith broadcast the frequency to break down the Rakweed, but it was ultimately the Blathereen's own greed that killed them. Yes, I threatened them with a gun loaded with vinegar, but I didn't pull the trigger in Antarctica. They came back here and threatened us all, including Clyde, Rani and Luke. There wasn't any other choice.'

'You're fine?' Susan asked softly.

'I'm fine. Now, tell me how long you're here for, and what is going on between you and Alan Jackson?'

Susan laughed, 'Alan and Maria actually flew back with me. Alan was taking Maria by her mum's to visit for a bit, but we thought we'd all get together for dinner somewhere if that was all right with you.'

'I never really thought about you and Alan being close to the same age. Makes me feel very old.'

'Never!' Susan laughed. 'You're eternally thirty-nine, right?'

Sarah joined in her laughter. 'Right.'

'Mum, in all seriousness though, I'm really glad you're all right. Please let me know if you ever need to, or want to talk about some of this stuff. Off the record, of course.'

Sarah stood up and reached out a hand to Susan. 'Come on, kitchen, now. We need tea.'

Susan stood up and let her mother lead her out of the room. 'Yes, Ma'am!'

~!~!~!~


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N - Part of wrapping things up...  
_

CHAPTER TWO

'So, tell me about how you met Alan and Maria?' Sarah said as she handed Susan a mug of tea and sat down at the table opposite her.

'When I reported back to UNIT, they'd been contacted by the American government about getting a representative there. They'd been working unofficially with Alan and Maria, but given Alan's full time job and Maria's age, they wanted someone to represent UNIT's best interests. So, I went over, started working with Alan and things just progressed.' Susan smiled as she thought about her first few weeks in America.

Sarah took a sip of her tea and watched the look on Susan's face. 'I recognise that look on your face, Sue.'

Susan stared into her mug, as if the warm tea would explain everything. Sarah only watched as Susan finally set the mug down and put her head in her hands. 'Oh my God, I've never fallen in love with a human before.' She looked up at Sarah. 'What do I do now?'

Sarah reached over and put her hand over Susan's. 'I have no idea what to tell you, Sue. Romantic relationships have never been my strong suit.'

Susan laughed. 'Not exactly a conversation I ever first expected to have with my mother with me in my thirties. You have to love our version of normal.'

Sarah joined in the laughter. 'True. You know, now that Harry is back and relatively settled, he might be a better one for you to talk about this. I've never seen a couple more in love than he and Elizabeth were when you were little.'

'That's true, every time he would mention Elizabeth, he would get this look in his eyes.'

Sarah smiled. 'Yes, he always did. He and I always cared about each other, but it was never like that.'

Susan looked up at Sarah. 'Mum, did you feel about the Doctor that way?'

'I don't think you can compare the two. Obviously, I had feelings for the Doctor, or you wouldn't be here, but what we had was different. You know what he's like, and given what I've seen of the version of the Doctor you travelled with, he's a lot different than he used to be. He was even more alien when I travelled with him, if that's possible.'

Susan laughed. 'Oh, he definitely has his alien moments now, just that bit of Time Lord arrogance that sets him apart from, well, pretty much everyone else.'

'Sue, there's one thing I hate to ask, but I will anyway.' Susan only raised an eyebrow in response, waiting for Sarah to continue. 'Have you told Alan the truth?'

'You mean that I'm not quite human? No, I don't think our relationship is ready for that yet.'

'Let me just throw this out there for you, if you are seriously in love with Alan, then you owe him the truth. Take it from someone that's learned the hard way that not sharing the truth causes you more pain in the long run.'

Susan nodded, 'I know, and honestly, Alan is the first person I've ever even considered telling.'

'Then that also should give you some insight into your feelings for him.'

'True.' Susan thought for a moment before asking another question. 'Mum? Do you think we should tell Dad? About the Doctor, I mean.'

Sarah sighed, 'I don't know, Sue. The only reason I would suggest telling Alan is because of the differences that might cause issues in your relationship. You've travelled with the Doctor, but you consider Harry your father. Is it worth changing that? I don't want to make that decision for you, Sue. It's your relationship with Harry that would change. I'll go along with whatever you want to do.'

'I'm going to have to think about this.'

~!~!~!~

As Harry ushered Susan in the door, she looked around the small, yet comfortable surroundings. 'This is great, Dad. You said you wanted to retire to a small place in the country.'

'It's quiet and peaceful. Something I could definitely use after the last several years.'

'I completely understand that.'

Harry draped an arm across her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. 'Come on in the kitchen. I'll make us some tea and you can tell me what brings you by.'

As they walked into the kitchen and Harry began making tea, Susan said, 'Why do I need a reason to visit my dad? I haven't seen you in a while.'

'And you're supposed to be stationed in America at the moment.' At Susan's expression, he smiled and continued, 'I do still talk to Sarah on a fairly regular basis.'

'Luke called me, he was worried about Sarah, given everything that's happened recently. I had some leave coming, so I wanted to take the opportunity to see for myself that she was all right.'

'She's been keeping to herself, that much even I've noticed. We've spent some time together, but I can honestly say from experience, it just takes time to get over the loss of someone you love. As for the whole experience with the Blathereen, you have to know that there's nothing she wouldn't do for Luke, the same as with you.'

Susan ran a hand through her hair. 'Actually, Dad, there's something else I want to talk to you about. I tried talking to Sarah, but she can't explain, at least not really, and she suggested I talk to you about it.'

Harry laughed as she brought two mugs of tea over and sat down at the table next to Susan, 'This must be about that man you've been seeing. The one that used to live over the road from Sarah?'

Susan smiled. 'Oh you do talk to her a bit, don't you?' Susan took a sip of her tea. 'I'm not exactly sure how all this works, I mean, I think I'm in love, but I'm not sure how it all works. I've kept men at arms length since I joined UNIT. It was just easier, given the nature of the job, and now, well, this sort of snuck up on me.'

Harry reached over and patted Susan's hand. 'Sue, luv, your alien side is coming out.' Susan tilted her head, so Harry continued. 'Did you think I didn't know?'

'Know what?'

'Susan, I've known since you were seven years old that you're not as human as you appear to be.' He further explained. 'You got very sick when you were seven and I had to take you to the hospital. When we were running tests on you, we found several abnormalities. Because of my position with UNIT at the time, no one questioned it when I had you transferred and your public medical records sealed. Sarah was out of the country on assignment, so I never told her what I discovered. I'm still not sure to this day if she knows the truth. I don't think she ever would've let Elizabeth and I adopt you if she'd known.'

Susan sighed. 'She knows. I think she suspected for a long time, but found out for certain just a few years ago while you were away.' Susan ran a hand through her hair, Harry's comments sinking in. 'So, when we were on Trivid, all four of us, you knew that I wasn't biologically your daughter. You knew for years, and yet you never treated me any different.'

Harry reached over and put his hand over Susan's. 'I raised you from a baby, and yes, I wasn't around as much after we got back from Trivid, but you were an adult by then, and had started working your way up the UNIT ranks. Just because you're not genetically related to me doesn't mean you're anything less than my daughter.'

Susan leaned over and hugged Harry. 'Thanks Dad. I love you.'

'I love you too, Sue.' Harry sat back and looked at Susan. 'So, what was the Doctor's reaction?'

Susan smiled. 'I told him that he could never replace you, and he was all right with that.'

~!~!~!~

In Sarah's kitchen, Susan stood looking out the window to where Luke, Maria and Sarah were sitting in the back garden. Alan stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her. 'It's good to see them catching up. I know Sarah really needed this.'

'I know that Sarah Jane and Luke always treated Maria like family, and Maria really needed that after we moved here, so I'm glad we were able to come with you.'

Susan turned in Alan's arms and leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. 'We should go out there and join them.'

Alan smiled. 'In just a minute.' He took Susan's hand and led her into the living room and had her sit down on the sofa. 'I never thought I'd feel strong enough for anyone to do this again.' He knelt down on one knee. 'I love you, Susan Sullivan, will you marry me?'

Susan smiled, 'I do love you Alan, but,' Susan took Alan's hand and pulled him up to sit next to her. 'Before I answer that question, there's something you should know.'

Alan frowned, but held Susan's hand tightly. 'Why do I think I'm not going to like the sound of this?'

'Well, it's complicated.' Susan sighed, 'I'm not quite human.'

Alan gave her a look, 'What does that mean?'

'Well, you know now that Sarah Jane is my mother, which I didn't know until I was sixteen. What I didn't know until just a few years ago was that Harry wasn't my father. You've heard Sarah mention the Doctor?' Alan nodded, so Susan continued. 'The Doctor is my biological father.'

'Your parents are Sarah Jane and the Doctor. Seriously? This seems way too complicated. How does all this work?'

'It's like a bad soap opera, if you think too hard about it.' Susan took a deep breath and just plunged right in. 'Mum and Dad had a brief relationship when she stopped travelling with the Doctor. They didn't realise she was pregnant until after the relationship ended and Mum had introduced Dad to her best friend Elizabeth. When Mum realised she was pregnant, since she wasn't married, she thought the best thing to do was to put me up for adoption. Dad and Elizabeth agreed to adopt me, especially since Dad thought he was my father. Elizabeth had cancer and died when I was three years old. Because Mum and Dad had remained friends, Mum was more like an aunt to me and I would stay with her occasionally when Dad had to go out of town.' She looked up at Alan, 'With me so far?'

Alan nodded, 'So when did the Doctor come back into the picture?'

'When I was sixteen, I found out the truth about Sarah really being my mother. In a somewhat coincidental way, an alien named Lacond appeared on Earth about the same time. Being really ticked off at Mum, I wound up going with Lacond to her planet, Trivid.'

Alan took a deep breath. 'Do I want to know how that happened next?'

Susan shook her head, 'That's another long story for another day. But short version, I got involved in the civil war on the planet. Mum followed me and was presumed killed. We lived on that planet for two years before the Doctor and Dad came and brought us home. I finally came to terms with Sarah being my mum, although it still took me some time after we got back. I had no idea at that point that I was anything less than a slightly odd human.'

'When did that change?'

'When we left Trivid, I asked the Doctor if he could show me the Universe, the same way he did my parents. He said I needed to go back with them and really figure out how our relationship was going to be now that I knew the truth about Sarah, but that he would come back for me later. Well, he did, only fifteen years later. The first thing he did was show me evidence of the truth, that I was not actually Harry's daughter, but his.'

'Did Sarah Jane and Harry know the truth?'

'Mum had her suspicions, but never pushed the issue, and she found out the same time I did. We didn't think that Dad knew, only I just talked to him a few days ago, and he's known since I was seven years old that I wasn't his child.' Susan sighed. 'I don't know what to think anymore.' After a pause, she added. 'Well, that's it really. Feel free to run screaming from the building now.'

Alan watched as Susan wrapped up her story. 'So, do you have a good relationship with your parents now?

Susan nodded, 'Yes, all three of them really. I'll always consider Sarah and Harry to be my Mum and Dad. But I also have a good relationship with the Doctor, especially considering I got to travel with him for about five years.'

Alan took a deep breath. 'Sue, it's good to know all this, and I'm glad to go into it with my eyes wide open, but I still love you and want to marry you.' He paused for a second. 'If you're willing to settle for a human, that is.'

Susan smiled and quickly leaned over and kissed Alan. 'I love you, Alan. So the answer is yes, of course I'll marry you.'

Alan smiled and quickly stood up, pulling Susan with him, then hugged her, picking her up off the floor and spinning her around.

~!~!~!~


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N - Part of wrapping things up...this one's longer than most...  
_

CHAPTER THREE

Sarah listened to Maria and Luke talking back and forth, catching up on their time away. She looked up at the window in time to see Susan and Alan walk away from it. She smiled, enjoying how happy Susan seemed. She'd seen more than her fair share of frowns on Susan's face over the years, and she deserved some happiness. One particular moment came to mind.

_Sarah woke up in the hospital bed. The last thing she remembered was losing consciousness on the Dauntless. She looked around the room and saw Susan asleep in the nearby chair. Her head was tilted at an odd angle, so Sarah knew she had to be uncomfortable. She tried to speak, but her voice was too weak. Concentrating, she called out to Susan mentally._

_Susan jolted awake and quickly looked over at Sarah's bed. Seeing her awake, she stood up and quickly went to Sarah's side. She reached out and took her hand and squeezed it gently. 'Mum. I was so worried about you.' Susan read Sarah's questioning expression. 'We have no idea how you lasted as long as you did. It was thought that the life support systems were down, but then Nat heard you talking about that light that you'd never thought you'd see again.' Tears began to fall down Susan's face. 'I told Dad that I thought it was probably the Doctor, but that we'd still have to find a way to get to you. That the Doctor would keep you safe until they could get a rescue shuttle to you.'_

_Sarah reached up towards Susan, but couldn't reach. She wound up gesturing for Susan to lean closer. As Susan leaned down, Sarah reached up and pulled her head down to kiss her temple. 'I love you, Sue,' she whispered hoarsely._

_Susan smiled. 'I love you too. Dad and I have been taking turns until just a day or so ago. He got called out again; I have no idea where this time. I'm just as glad I was one here when you woke up. The doctors say that you'll be fine, but you just need your rest. I'm sure when Dad gets back, he'll make sure that you get it.'_

_'I'm sure he will.'_

_Susan could see Sarah's eyes getting heavy again. 'Sleep, Mum. I'll be here when you wake up.'_

True to her word, Susan practically lived in the hospital until Sarah was released. Once Sarah had recovered, she'd thrown herself into her work and while Susan was away on a prolonged assignment to Indonesia, she'd moved to Bannerman Road. Sarah realised the amount of danger that was involved in her life and when Susan returned, Sarah did her best to protect her, even if it meant keeping her at arms length. Sarah knew that Susan had her own life to lead, and wanted to make sure she wasn't constantly looking over her shoulder because of Sarah's enemies. Inside, she was incredibly thankful that Susan wasn't officially listed as her daughter. If there were any other members of the Crimson Chapter still out there, it was best for them to think she had no children.

Sarah was jolted back to the present day as she heard Luke calling to her. 'Mum.'

'Sorry, Luke, I was just lost in thought.'

Maria piped up. 'Sarah Jane, I have a question.' She paused a beat before continuing. 'When Dad and I got ready to move to America, when you apologised to me on the day we left, you said that I was like the daughter you always wanted. But you already have a daughter.'

Sarah sighed and slowly nodded. 'That's true. Mine and Sue's relationship is complicated at best. I didn't raise her and was only around her sporadically until she was an adult. So I didn't really get to watch her grow up.' She stopped, not knowing how much detail to go into.

The explanation seemed to suit Maria. 'That makes sense, I suppose.' She paused a moment, not knowing whether to reveal her secret or not. 'I know at some point that Dad is planning on asking Sue to marry him.'

Sarah smiled. 'Oh he is, is he? And how do you feel about that?'

Maria smiled too. 'She reminds me of you in a lot of ways. Except for the gun. I know she carries a gun for her job, but I also know how much she hates to use it and will only do it as a last alternative.' Maria thought for a moment before continuing. 'There are moments though, where she'll get this look on her face when she's thinking about something, and I swear she doesn't look quite human.'

Sarah laughed, partly to cover herself as she thought about Susan's biological differences. 'Well, I guess she's been working for UNIT too long. Picked up some odd habits.'

'Yea, that's probably it.'

~!~!~!~

Harry and Sarah looked at each other across the quiet restaurant table as each of them took a sip of their drinks. 'Well, we haven't done this in quite some time,' Sarah admitted.

'It's quite nice, Sarah.'

Sarah smiled, 'I agree.'

'We should do it more often.'

'I'd like that, Harry. You know, I can't quite get used to the idea of you being retired.'

Harry laughed. 'It takes some getting used to, that's for certain. I'm just trying to get used to being allowed to be alive and not constantly looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to try to kill me.'

'I know the feeling,' Sarah admitted. 'Aliens, terrorists and cultists. It's certainly not been a dull life for either one of us.'

'Sarah, I'm really sorry I wasn't able to be here for you as much as you needed.'

Sarah took another sip of her drink and shook her head. 'Don't. That's old news, Harry. You didn't ask me to come to dinner with you to discuss that.'

'No, I didn't. I actually wanted to talk about Sue.'

A concerned look crossed Sarah's features. 'Is something wrong?'

'No, not really. She called and told me about Alan's proposal. She seems happy, but I'm also picking up something else from her. Our daughter is confused.'

Sarah shrugged. 'Can you blame her? This is really her first major relationship as an adult, and I know it's a big step. I'm sure she's just more nervous than confused, given her unusual upbringing. Besides, Alan is a great man, I don't think she could do any better.'

'I suppose not. As long as she's happy.' Harry paused a beat and took another sip of his scotch to steel himself. 'Sarah, there's something I need you to know.'

Sarah took a sip of her wine. 'What's that?'

'I know. About Susan that is. That she's not biologically my daughter. That she's the Doctor's.'

Sarah coughed, then caught her breath. 'Ah, when did you find out?'

'When she was seven years old.'

Sarah gave him a look. 'What? Why didn't you ever say anything? Even I didn't know for certain until a couple years ago. I mean, I suspected, but Susan wasn't born until almost a year after I came back.'

He reached across the table and took her hand in his. 'Sarah, it doesn't change the way I feel about Susan. She's always going to be my daughter. It also doesn't change the way I feel about you. I know you've had a very rough year, and I can certainly understand that, but I want you know that I'm here now, and don't plan on going anywhere. I'd like to be a part of your life as much as you'd let me.'

'You know how much I care about you, Harry.' She smiled, 'I always have and I always will. After all we still have a child together.'

'And your other child needs a father as well. I did all right as a father to Susan. I could be that to Luke, if you wanted me to. Well, if both you and he wanted me to. Nothing more than that, just a father to him.'

Sarah squeezed his hand, 'Oh Harry.'

'I'm serious, Sarah. At least just think about it. Think about it and talk to Luke.'

~!~!~!~

THREE MONTHS LATER

A figure looked around Sarah's attic and smiled. 'Perfect,' he said quietly, before tiptoeing down the stairs. Going down to the next floor, he closed his eyes and turned his head to listen. His eyes sprang open widely as he walked towards one of the open doorways.

The slim figure stood in Sarah's doorway and watched her sleep, a guilty smile etched on his face. The Doctor blushed slightly, looking down at his trainers as he caught telepathic glimpses of the dream she was having. He walked over stood next to the bed and continued to watch her.

Sarah opened her eyes and immediately recognized the slim Doctor with wild brown hair and rumpled pinstriped suit. She smiled, her eyes and voice still lazy from sleep. 'What are you doing here? I didn't hear the TARDIS.'

'Well, I'm working on perfecting her stealth landing. Looks like it worked.' The Doctor sat down next to her. 'The wedding is tomorrow. You didn't expect me to miss that, did you?'

Sarah's eyes widened and she propped herself up on her elbows, an element of panic creeping into her voice. 'Nothing's going to happen, is it? I mean the Trickster isn't going to show up again and try to ruin this? You're not going to need to run in and stop it at the last minute?'

He felt the anxiety coming from her, so he turned towards her, reached out and began to run a hand along her upper arm in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. 'No, Sarah, nothing like that.'

Silently, he reached up with his other hand and cupped her cheek, smoothing her skin with the pad of his thumb. She could feel the sadness emanating from him, and even in dim light of the room could see deep sorrow reflected in his eyes. 'What's wrong?' she asked softly. 'Something happened, I can tell.'

The Doctor turned from her and looked at the floor, watching his trainers move as he wiggled his toes. 'I don't really want to talk about it.'

Sarah sat up fully and moved to sit beside him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into his shoulder. 'Then why did you come here?'

'The wedding, I told you,' he said softly.

'I know you better than that, Doctor. You would've happily parked the TARDIS in the back of the room, popped out long enough to watch the ceremony and then disappeared again.' She took a deep breath. 'Luke is at Clyde's tonight, so we're here alone. You can talk to me.'

He turned to look at her and was met by just understanding in her eyes. He smiled. 'You were reliving some particularly vivid memories before you woke up.'

Now it was her turn to blush. 'Remind me to not think about you if you plan on showing up in the middle of the night.'

'Well,' he said, drawing out the word. 'I am flattered, but why the trip to Andara?'

She shot him a look, 'Why do you think? Sue's wedding is tomorrow, I've been remembering a lot of the times I've spent with her. It only falls to reason…'

The Doctor laughed, 'I get it. I do.' He leaned over and kissed Sarah's temple as he draped an arm across her shoulders. 'This is weird, isn't it? Our daughter is getting married tomorrow.'

Not wanting to continue down this path, Sarah changed subjects. 'Doctor, I know what you're trying to do. Now, get back on point. What happened to make your eyes so sad? Who's travelling with you now?'

He shook his head. 'No one. Not since Sue, actually.'

'I know when you came back last year to stop the Trickster, it was right about the time Sue stopped travelling with you. You didn't find anyone else? How long has it been for you?'

'It's too dangerous, Sarah Jane.'

'What do you mean?'

He sighed. 'I've made some really poor choices, Sarah. I was told my song was ending soon. There was a prophecy, and I'm going to die.' He hung his head as he heard her gasp. 'If I'm dying, I don't want anyone else I care about to get hurt in the process. I certainly didn't want that for Sue. If anything happened to her on my watch, well, I don't even want to think about that.'

Tears filled her eyes as Sarah took the arm that had been wrapped around the Doctor's waist and reached up to run a hand along his face and through his hair. 'Oh, Doctor. I don't know what to say.'

The Doctor turned quickly to Sarah and grabbing her face with both hands, kissed her passionately. She responded by wrapping her arms around him tightly. After more than a few moments, she pulled back, out of breath. She didn't say anything as she saw the Doctor's intense gaze.

After locking eyes with her, the Doctor started to speak. 'Sarah, I…' She reached up and put a finger over his lips to silence him. 'Are you sure?' he finally whispered.

She nodded. 'You told me that we are a constant. I still want to believe that if you do.'

He responded by kissing her again and leaning her back on the bed.

~!~!~!~

The Doctor rolled over onto his back, pulling Sarah close to him and continued to run a hand along her upper arm, around her shoulder and down her back. Sarah tucked her head up under his chin and absently traced patterns along his chest with her fingers. After a few minutes of letting their heart rates return to normal, the guilt began to wash over him. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. 'I'm so sorry, Sarah.'

She looked up at him, concern etched on her features. 'What have you got to be sorry about?'

He sighed. 'I'm a selfish old Time Lord. I should've never have come here like this. Or let things progress this far.'

She reached up and put two fingers over his lips. 'Don't you dare. We both wanted it, and there's nothing to be ashamed about. Believe me, I could've stopped you, but I didn't want to.' She gave him a wicked smile as she ran a hand along his jaw. 'Besides, in strictly human terms, this version of you is very good looking, so there might've been a little curiosity on my part as to your differences in this regeneration.'

He arched an eyebrow and waited. When she didn't say anything else, he finally asked. 'Well?'

She nodded slightly and smiled. 'You still tick all the right boxes.'

He laughed. 'I would only take that from you, my Sarah Jane.'

'Let's just say I have an interesting perspective, Doctor. Not that many of your companions have known you as long as I have.'

He leaned over and kissed her again. 'And none of my other companions have known me the way that you have.' He pulled her closer. 'I've waited over three hundred years to hold you like this again. I thought I'd never get the opportunity.'

Sarah reached up and turned his face towards her. 'So let's make the most of it, yes?'

'Oh yes,' he smiled, turning his body towards her again.

~!~!~!~

Harry smiled as Susan came out of the guest room all dressed in her wedding attire. He went over and kissed her cheek lightly. 'You look beautiful, Sue.' He smirked, 'Although, I don't think I've seen you in a dress since you were about four years old.'

Susan rolled her eyes. 'Thanks.' She looked at Harry's crisp tuxedo and patted him lightly on the chest. 'You look pretty sharp yourself, there Dad.'

'I'd only get dressed in this monkey suit for you.' He looked at his watch. 'The car should be here soon. I thought Sarah was going to meet us here.'

'No, she called earlier, she's going to pick up Luke and Clyde and then meet us at the church. Apparently she had some alien issues to deal with last night, but didn't go into specifics.' Susan knew more than she was letting on, but didn't want to say anything to Harry.

Now it was Harry's turn to roll his eyes. 'Where your mother is concerned, there are times I just don't really want to know.'

Susan smiled. 'That's for the best, really.'

~!~!~!~

Susan stood in the foyer of the church with Harry and Maria, her maid of honour. She walked over, took Harry's arm and looked at his watch, then frowned and resumed her pacing. 'Mum, Luke and Clyde should've been here by now.'

Harry peeked out the door and smiled as he saw Sarah's green Figaro pull into the car park. 'She's here now, Sue.'

As Luke and Clyde rushed in, Susan quickly walked up to Luke. 'Alan is waiting for you in the front room.' She quickly gave him a couple of last minute instructions and both he and Clyde headed into the main part of the church.

Sarah entered with the Doctor quickly following. Sarah quickly made her way over to Susan and tightly hugged her. Concern continued to play on Harry's features. 'Sarah, old girl, I thought something had happened.'

'I'm sorry, Susan,' Sarah said softly.

'Don't worry about it, Mum.' Susan leaned in and added in a quiet voice where only Sarah could hear. 'I'm glad you brought him,' she gestured towards the Doctor.

Sarah whispered back, 'He said he wouldn't have missed it.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. 'I didn't expect to see you here, Doctor.'

The Doctor smiled and winked at Susan before inclining his head towards Sarah. 'I'm her plus one.'

'Oh, I'm going to need a brain scrub,' Susan muttered as she quickly ran a hand over her eyes. 'Damn telepathy.' She went over and hugged the Doctor, a smile pasted outwardly on her face. When he was close enough, she whispered tersely, 'You and I need to talk at the reception.'

The Doctor nodded solemnly, knowing what she wanted to talk about.

Susan turned from the Doctor to Sarah as the music started playing in the church. 'Doctor, if you'd be so kind as to escort my mother to her seat, we could get this wedding started, yes?'

~!~!~!~

The ceremony seemed to be going along without any glitches. Alan and Susan stood at the front of the church with the minister. Maria and Luke stood up as the maid of honour and best man. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry sat in the front row. Scattered through the rest of the church were other friends, family and close UNIT associates, including Sir Alistair and his wife, Liz.

The minister looked at the assembled guests. 'If there be anyone here sees just cause why these two cannot be joined in matrimony, please speak now, or forever hold your peace.'

The back door of the church flew open, and three aliens entered, weapons drawn, causing a collective gasp amongst the guests. Their pale grey skin stood in stark contrast to their glowing eye sockets. 'Get down,' Susan ordered as she pushed Maria to the floor. The other wedding guests quickly crouched down, letting the pews protect them from any potential gunshots.

Sarah quickly stood up to stand next to Susan. 'What do you want here?'

Susan pushed Sarah behind her. 'This is not your fight. I recognize them, they're Gentaris. They tried to invade when I was leading a group in Indonesia.' She glanced over at the Doctor. He quickly reached out and pulled Sarah towards him, pulling her to the floor to protect her.

Harry knelt next to the Doctor and Sarah. 'What do those aliens want with Susan?'

Sarah glanced at the Doctor, who quickly nodded and began crawling out of sight towards the back of the church. She then looked from the Gentaris to Susan and back again. 'She fought them in one of her missions with UNIT, but that's been years ago. Something about this doesn't feel right.'

The main Gentaris fired a warning blast directly over Susan's head. 'That was your first and final warning, Human.'

'What do you want, Kreix?' Susan asked and absently ran a hand across the back of her neck. Alan tried to get her to stand behind him, but she refused.

'You defeated us once, Female, but you will not succeed again. We will defeat you and take our glory back.'

Susan rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, yeah, I know.' She paused a beat. 'Considering you're supposed to be such good warriors, there's one thing you forgot to keep in your battle plan.'

'What is that, Human?'

At that, the Doctor, Sir Alistair and another soldier each quickly struck a Gentaris from behind, causing them to fall to the floor. The soldier quickly disarmed the aliens. Susan looked at them all gasping for air, 'You're in a room full of soldiers who know how to defeat you.'

Several of the UNIT troops stood up and after taking orders from Sir Alistair, took their prisoners away so the wedding could continue. Alan quickly embraced Susan. 'Are you all right?'

Susan sighed, 'They could've killed either one of us with that first blast. In fact, I'm not sure why they didn't. Gentaris aren't exactly known for their mercy.' She sank down to sit in the pew, Alan quickly sitting next to her. She turned towards him and took his hands in hers. Hers were shaking. 'My life is dangerous, Alan. Are you sure you want to do this? Do we want to bring Maria into this? I don't want to put either of you in danger.'

Alan quickly took Susan's face in his hands and kissed her. 'Yes, Sue, I've known this was part of your life since the moment I met you. I've not changed my mind.' He smiled, 'A wise person once told me that once the Universe chose to share itself with you; you can't turn your back on it.'

'Who said that?'

Alan nodded towards where Sarah, Harry and the Doctor were quietly talking amongst themselves. 'Sarah Jane. Right after I learned about aliens, actually.'

~!~!~!~

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, 'Something about this doesn't feel right.'

Sarah nodded. 'I know, but I can't put my finger on what.'

Sighing, the Doctor walked over to Susan and Alan and knelt in front of them. 'Sue, what do you think?'

'It's suspicious, but I don't know what else to tell you.'

The Doctor stood up and reached out to squeeze Susan's shoulder before walking to the back of the church. Sir Alistair met him at the back door. 'Ah, Doctor, the men have just come back from a thorough canvassing of the grounds and found no other alien activity.'

'Good, good. We should be able to get back to this wedding now, eh Alistair?'

~!~!~!~

The rest of the wedding went as planned and at the reception, Sarah and Harry watched as Susan and Alan danced their first dance. 'Well, at least it's not been a dull day,' Harry mused.

Sarah laughed. 'You could say that.' She paused, watching the couple on the dance floor. 'They look very happy. I'm glad for them.'

Harry reached out and covered Sarah's hand with his and squeezed it comfortingly. 'Me too.' He looked around. 'Where did the Doctor disappear to?'

Sarah looked around before spying him at one of the tables. 'Oh, there he is. Catching up with the Brig and Liz apparently.' She smiled, 'I don't think he realised they were married.'

Just then, the DJ called for the parents of the bride to join in the dance. Harry turned to Sarah, 'Shall we?' As Harry ushered Sarah to the dance floor, he couldn't miss the glance she exchanged with the Doctor. Harry looked up and saw tears just on the edges of Sarah's eyes. 'What's wrong?'

'I'm very happy for Sue, but it scares me how closely it came to going all wrong today.'

'It's the life she chose, Sarah.'

'No, it's the life I exposed her to. She said something a while back that has stuck with me and bothered me ever since.' Harry just waited for her to continue. 'She said she didn't know how to do anything else but be a soldier. I saw that side of her today. I've put it to the back of my mind since Trivid, but I can't help but think how things would've been different if we'd been honest with her.'

Even though they were still moving slightly to the music, Harry pulled Sarah closer to him. 'No, Sarah. We did the right thing at the time. The best we knew how. Her life wouldn't have been easier, only harder. The Doctor has more enemies than both of us put together. It wouldn't have been fair to her to put her in the firing line until she was old enough to accept it.'

The DJ called for other couples to join them on the dance floor. Harry watched as others joined. He caught the Doctor's eye and tilted his head ever so slightly towards Sarah.

The Doctor excused himself from Sir Alistair and Liz and made his way towards Sarah and Harry. Harry stepped back and whispered, 'The true parents of the bride should at least share one dance.'

They both turned to look at him. The Doctor squeezed Harry's shoulder in thanks as he rested his hands on Sarah's waist and began to move with the music with her. 'I didn't know that Harry knew.'

'I didn't either until just a few months ago.'

~!~!~!~


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N - More in the vein of wrapping things up. Maybe only one more chapter or so to go...hopefully this answers a couple of questions that were brought up by the epilogue of Trividian Conundrum...  
_

CHAPTER FOUR_  
_

The reception guests started thinning out over time, leaving only the family and close friends. Liz, Sir Alistair and Harry sat and watched as the Doctor guided Sarah back out to the dance floor. Liz frowned, 'He just keeps getting younger and younger looking.'

'Damned unfair, if you ask me,' Sir Alistair commented. 'Makes me feel very old.'

'And have you noticed the way he's looking at Sarah Jane?' Liz asked, a slight look of disapproval gracing her features. 'How many times has he whisked her off to dance? You'd think he was trying to impress her.'

Harry smiled, albeit a bit sadly. 'She doesn't seem to mind. And to answer your first question, they've been looking at each other like that for more than thirty years.'

Sir Alistair nodded, 'Yes, that's why no one has questioned D347.'

Liz looked over at him. 'What is D347?'

Sir Alistair shared a look with Harry before answering. 'It's a protective order put in place by the Doctor himself, although which version, I couldn't tell you. Short fellow, dark eyes and an absurd jumper covered in question marks.'

Harry nodded. 'That would be the Doctor that was with us on Trivid.'

'It basically states that Sarah Jane is to be treated with the same respect and privileges as the Doctor himself as far as UNIT is concerned. As for outsiders, such as that Harkness fellow from Torchwood, it's strictly a hands off policy.'

'Hands off and everything else too, where Harkness is concerned, if the rumours are to be believed,' Harry added.

Liz smiled and nodded, 'Believe them.'

Sir Alistair gave her a look, to which her reply was only to shrug. He frowned before continuing. 'There's some other wording in there that makes it perfectly clear that the Doctor has a unique relationship with Sarah Jane. And this fellow, this version of him,' he nodded towards the Doctor, 'has made a modification to it to include Susan.'

Now it was Harry's turn to frown. 'When was that modification made?'

'About ten years ago, as I understand it. I wasn't around at the time, but I heard about it.'

Harry watched, but said nothing as Susan approached them. She leaned over and hugged both Sir Alistair and Liz. 'Uncle Alistair, Aunt Liz, I'm really glad you were both able to come today.' She pulled up a chair to sit next to them.

'We wouldn't have missed it for the world, my dear,' Liz said with a smile.

Sir Alistair reached out and patted Susan's hand, 'I'm very happy for you, Susan. That Alan is a damn lucky man if you ask me.'

Susan blushed. 'Thank you. I feel pretty lucky myself.' Susan looked over at Harry and then followed his gaze to where he was watching Sarah and the Doctor engrossed in conversation, even while slow dancing. 'You couldn't protect her then, you can't protect her now, Dad.'

Harry looked over at Susan. 'This isn't going to end well, is it?'

Susan shook her head. 'You don't know the half of it.' She took a deep breath. 'I need to talk to him, but I haven't figured out what to say yet.'

'Just tell him what's on your mind, Sue,' Liz offered.

'Even if what's on my mind is "I don't care who you are, you hurt her again and I'll hunt you down and kill you, Last of the Time Lords be damned"? Somehow, that doesn't seem right. The second thought that goes through my mind, but still just as inappropriate goes something along the lines of…well, I can't really repeat it aloud at the moment.'

Harry laughed, 'That's my girl.'

Susan looked at Harry and smiled, but then felt the familiar tingle against her mind. She looked over to find the Doctor looking at her. 'Ah, here we go, I'm being beckoned.' She stood up and took a deep breath. 'Wish me luck.'

As Susan walked towards the Doctor, Sir Alistair turned to Harry. 'What was all that about, Sullivan?'

Harry thought for a moment before responding. 'Sue has a bit more, shall we say, telepathic talent than most humans and she and the Doctor travelled together for a long time, so they're in tune to each other. At least that's as near as I can gather from the way Sue explains it.'

Liz looked from where Sarah was now talking to Alan, over to the Doctor and then to Susan before turning back to Harry. Raising an eyebrow, she frowned. 'There's more to that story, Harry.'

He ran a hand across his face, the slight weariness just beginning to show. 'Yes, and it's long and complicated and reasonably painful.'

Liz reached over and squeezed Harry's hand. 'We're always here if you need us or want to talk, all right?'

He nodded and smiled. 'Thanks, Liz.'

~!~!~!~

The Doctor smiled as Susan walked over. 'Those are some violent tendencies you have there, Sue.'

Susan stared at the Doctor. 'Doctor, you know how I feel about you, but you have some serious explaining to do.'

The Doctor guided her to a chair as he noted the serious expression on her face. Her eyebrow was raised and it was obvious she was not going to accept anything less than the truth. 'I've seen that look on Sarah's face many times.'

'Dad and I called it the epic eyebrow of disdain when I was kid,' she said with a smile, then her expression sobered again. 'Don't get me off topic.' She lowered her voice to make sure no one could hear her. 'What were you thinking?'

'I don't know what you mean?'

Susan shot him a look, but then spoke her thoughts. 'C'mon Doctor, I know you two slept together.' The Doctor started to speak, but she held up her hand to stop him. 'Just hear me out. You're my parents, so obviously, I know this has happened before. And you're adults, so how you behave together is not my business. Just do me a favour. Make sure both you and Mum both have blocks up before you do that again. If you do that again.'

'It wasn't planned.'

'I'm sure not.' Susan took a deep breath. 'Does she know?'

It was the Doctor's turn to raise an eyebrow, then he realised. 'Oh.' He paused, figuring out what to say while carefully constructing mental barriers. He ran a hand randomly through his hair, causing it to stand up at even more angles that it already was previously.

Susan realised what he was doing. 'Doctor, don't even bother. I already know. You're going to break her heart again. Hasn't she had enough heartbreak lately?'

'I can take her away for a while, spend the time with her as I should.'

'But you won't. Because of the prophecy.'

'I could. That prophecy doesn't have to come true for many years yet. The Ood have summoned me, but I have too much to do first. Sarah could be a part of that.'

'Don't, Doctor. Don't make a promise you can't fulfil. You've done that enough.'

The Doctor smiled. 'I'm getting better at keeping my promises in my old age. After all, I did come back for you.'

Susan sighed. 'Yes, and we had a wonderful time, and I'm glad I finally got to know you. But…'

The Doctor reached out and took her hand, interrupting her. 'I remember that day in the attic.' Susan gasped. 'No, I wiped it at the time as I promised, at least part of it, but I kept enough that I would remember it when the timelines synchronised themselves.'

'And are they? Fully synchronised, that is? You had a nasty habit of jumping around there for a bit, including you popping back to get rid of my sensory headaches.'

'Well, you were already healed when you travelled with me, so I just had to pinpoint when that happened so I could go back and make it happen so that it had happened by the time it needed to happen.'

Susan didn't bat an eye. 'You're changing the subject, we were talking about you and Mum.'

The Doctor took a deep breath. 'Sue, you're my daughter, I can't deny it even if I wanted to, and I've never gotten parental with you. However, this is between your mother and me. Focus on your husband now and let us determine what the proper course of action is.'

He and Susan stared for a long moment, neither one saying a word. Finally Susan nodded. 'Fine. Just do me a favour and get better at those mental barriers in certain circumstances if you know what I mean. Especially when I'm only across town. No one needs that floating around in their heads.'

The Doctor smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry about that.'

~!~!~!~

'So, those Gentaris things,' Alan said as he sat down opposite Sarah, 'what are they?'

'They looked like battle drones, but past that, I've not had a lot of experience with them. When I get home, I'll have Mr. Smith give me more information.'

'Nasty lot, by the look of it.'

Sarah nodded. 'And there's something that's still bothering me about the whole thing.'

Susan and the Doctor walked over and Susan sat down beside Alan while the Doctor sat by Sarah. 'You two are way too serious over here,' Susan said with a smile.

'Discussing the Gentaris,' Sarah admitted. 'I just told Alan that I think something's going on.'

'They come from the Alphraxis galaxy, them even being on this side of the Universe is cause for concern.' The Doctor informed them. 'They looked like an advanced guard.'

'I thought we dealt with Kreix years ago. I was stationed in Indonesia when they tried to attack. We got into a nasty battle that took out almost half of my troops and I have no idea how many Gentaris. Finally, they retreated.'

The Doctor frowned. 'Gentaris never retreat. At least not permanently.' He sniffed at the air and glanced at Susan. She also began to sniff the air just as a thick, acrid smoke began to fill the room. The Doctor stood up quickly and shouted, 'OK, everybody out of here now.' He began to run around the room getting people outside.

Everyone began coughing and choking as they staggered towards the exits. As the group began to congregate outside, Alan looked around and headed back towards the door. Just as he got to the door, he met the Doctor, who was leading Sarah out by the hand. Sarah was gasping for air. 'Sue and I got separated.'

The Doctor nodded, 'I know, she was making sure everyone was clear from the back rooms.' He looked back. 'I thought she was right behind us.' The Doctor glanced at Sarah, then back to Alan. 'Don't let Sarah back in, no matter what.'

Alan nodded, then pulled Sarah further away from the exit. Harry rushed over to them. 'Where's Sue?'

Sarah coughed, then spoke. 'The Doctor just went in after her. She was checking the extra rooms.'

As they watched the entrance, the Doctor came out carrying an unconscious Susan. After getting her a safe distance from the door, he gently eased her to the ground. Sarah quickly knelt by her head as Alan and the Doctor each knelt down on either side of her. Harry knelt down next to Alan and reached for her wrist to check her pulse. The Doctor reached up to check the pulse in her neck as Sarah pushed the hair away from her face.

After a minute, the Doctor leaned back, his eyes full of emotion as he locked gazes with Sarah. 'Her heart's stopped.'

'What about her second heart?' Harry asked.

'Second heart?' the Doctor questioned.

'It's been dormant all this time, what if we can get it started?'

Just then, Luke ran up with a medical kit. 'Mum keeps this in the car.'

Harry quickly took it and began looking through it, then spied what he was looking for and grabbed a syringe and a small bottle of liquid.

'Wait,' Luke said. 'Mum, hand me the sonic lipstick.' He turned to the Doctor, 'And your sonic screwdriver.'

The Doctor smiled, knowing what Luke was thinking. 'That gas was targeted, they had to have gotten some of Sue's DNA when she fought the Gentaris before.' He took Sarah's sonic lipstick from her. 'We just have to create the right vibration patterns…' He adjusted both the sonic lipstick and the sonic screwdriver, then very slowly brought them together simultaneously against Susan's chest.

~!~!~!~


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N - Ah, I got distracted by the Great Drabble War on livejournal. Such is life, but here we go!  
_

CHAPTER FIVE _  
_

The Doctor took a deep breath as he activated both Sarah's sonic lipstick and his sonic screwdriver. He slowly brought them together simultaneously against Susan's chest. And waited.

Susan's body spasmed, then relaxed. Harry took her pulse again and shook his head. 'Come on, Sue, you have to do this, concentrate,' The Doctor said softly as he brought the two sonics together again and placed them on Susan's chest. Her body again spasmed, then she gasped for air as her eyes flew open.

Sarah cradled Susan's head in her lap and finally allowed the tears to flow as she pushed Susan's hair away from her face. The Doctor sat back and blew out the breath he'd been holding.

Susan's breathing finally slowed to normal. She reached up with one hand and put it flat first against one side of her chest and then the other. A confused look crossed her face as she looked up at the people surrounding her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, her expression changing to almost one of sheer terror.

The Doctor reached out and put his hand on Susan's forehead and closed his eyes. No one dared breathe a word. Sarah and Harry exchanged concerned glances before both of them looked over at Alan, then back to the Doctor. After several minutes of silence, Susan closed her eyes and her breathing regulated. The Doctor finally opened his eyes and took his hand away from Susan's forehead. He looked down at Susan, then around at Sarah, Harry, Alan and Luke. 'We need to get her back to the TARDIS,' he whispered.

'What's going on, Doctor?' Alan asked.

'She's basically in a deep sleep. I've induced an almost regenerative-state coma. She's disoriented and her speech centre wasn't functioning properly.' He turned to Harry. 'Obviously, you know more about her biology than I do, even given what I do know.'

Harry nodded. 'I do, but let's get her to the TARDIS where it's safe, and I'll give you all the information I have. Then you can give me the information you have.'

~!~!~!~

Liz and the Brigadier drove the Doctor, the sleeping Susan and Alan in their larger car, while Sarah, Harry, Luke and Maria took Sarah's Figaro back to Bannerman Road. The Doctor sprinted up the stairs and called back to where Alan was carrying Susan in through the front door. 'I'll bring the TARDIS down here.'

About a minute later, the TARDIS materialised in the front room. The Doctor stuck his head out. 'Bring her in.' Alan carried Susan through the TARDIS doors.

Sarah turned to Luke and Maria, 'You two stay here with Sir Alistair and Liz. We'll let you know something as soon as we do.' With that, she quickly entered the TARDIS, followed Harry.

By the time Sarah and Harry reached the TARDIS sickbay, the Doctor already had Susan hooked up to various medical devices. Alan stood back out of the way, just watching. The Doctor looked over at Harry. 'All right, Harry, come look at this and tell me what you know.'

Harry went and stood by the Doctor and look at the scans on the monitors. 'Nearly as I've been able to tell, Susan was born with two hearts, but one of them was never functional.'

'A Time Lord has the circulatory system to support both hearts, and she would have been in distress if that was the case.'

'But she's not a full Time Lord, Doctor, and humans only have the one heart. We discovered that her second heart fed into her main circulatory system, the blood flowed through it, but it wasn't an active muscle pushing the blood. There was no telling what the condition of that heart was, or whether it could sustain her if her primary heart was damaged.'

The Doctor looked from Susan back to Harry. 'When I did the scans after your experience on Trivid, it didn't show a second heart.'

'Did you look specifically for it?'

'Well, no, I didn't expect…well, it's not important now.' He took a deep breath, 'We just need to focus on getting her better now.'

'What can we do to help, Doctor?' Sarah asked.

He shook his head. 'Nothing. I just need to stablise her circulatory system, taking into account the second heart, and then make sure that there's no residual damage to her neural network.'

For Sarah, time seemed to stretch on for an eternity. She looked over at Alan and knew he was feeling the same way. Unable to do anything to help, they were both left to stand out of the way and allow Harry to feed the Doctor information and just watch as the Doctor would make multiple adjustments to different pieces of equipment and then scan the still unconscious Susan.

~!~!~!~

'Well, Harry, I think there's nothing else we can do except wait.' The Doctor looked up at Harry, then looked around. 'Where did Sarah and Alan go?'

'Sarah knew there wasn't anything she could do, so rather than potentially get in the way, she and Alan went back to the house to wait.'

The Doctor nodded. 'We could join them, but I'd rather stay in the TARDIS. She'll notify me if Susan wakes up. Would you like to join me for tea in the galley?'

They walked in silence and Harry sat down at the table as the Doctor quickly took the makings of tea out of the cabinets. The Doctor finally turned around and leaned against the counter. 'Harry, let me ask you a question. How was it, raising Susan, knowing she wasn't your biological daughter?'

Harry took a deep breath. 'Sue was seven years old when she developed what we thought was pneumonia. When the x-rays started coming back with the odd shadows, I began to suspect something. Knowing the truth was like being punched, but you weren't around and Sue was still so little. Sarah was in and out of her life, so Sue didn't have anyone else. I was there when she spoke her first words, Doctor. I was there when she took her first steps, lost her first tooth and went to school the first day. When she had a nightmare, I was there to comfort her. When she cried, I was there for her, I was the only parent she knew for the majority of her life. I don't care how many hearts she has or whose DNA she shares, she is my daughter, and no one, not even you being in her life now, can change that.'

The Doctor sat a mug of tea in front of Harry and dropped heavily into the seat opposite him. 'I couldn't be her father, even if I wanted to. Travelling with her all those years, I love her, of course, as does just about anyone that comes in contact with her. Being close to me is dangerous. How many times have my companions been hurt or injured while in my company? How many enemies do I have that would love nothing better than getting back at me by hurting someone close to me.'

Harry took a sip of tea. 'For as brave as you are, Doctor, sometimes I think you are also a coward.'

'What?'

'I have enemies, Doctor. Sarah has enemies. It's part of the lifestyles we lead. It doesn't make us willing to leave those we care about. We want to protect them, but ultimately, we can only do our best. Sometimes they get hurt because of us. And sometimes they make their own enemies. Sue is lying in your sickbay barely alive not because of you, Sarah or me. It was her own enemy that did this to her. It's up to us, as people who love her, to be there to help her through it.'

'What are you suggesting, Harry?'

Harry wrapped his hands around the mug in front of him and stared into it before looking up at the Doctor. 'You don't have to be a constant presence in her life, but don't disappear off into the TARDIS and never come back. Don't wait over thirty years, like you did with Sarah. Sue is family, and once she's accepted you into her family, you can't just walk away.'

The Doctor stared at his own tea, not wanting to see Harry's expression. 'I can't make any promises.'

'I'm not the one who's asking for them. I'm just speaking on behalf of a scared young woman who's getting ready to embark on a whole new path in life. She needs someone who can answer her questions and guide her through it. I can't do that for her, or I would.'

The Doctor sat up straight. 'She's awake.' He bolted out of the room with Harry following close behind.

~!~!~!~

Sarah watched as the Brigadier and Liz pulled out of the driveway. She turned back to Alan. 'They're very kind,' he admitted.

'They've been very close to Sue since she was a child.'

He nodded back towards the TARDIS. 'Should we go back and see how things are going?'

Sarah shook her head, 'There's nothing we can do until the Doctor or Harry…' She stopped suddenly as something reached out at the edges of her mind. 'She's awake.'

They both ran for the TARDIS.

~!~!~!~


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N - Many thanks to Sleepismyfriend for her help with this chapter!  
_

CHAPTER SIX_  
_

The Doctor and Harry both reached the sickbay about the same time. Susan looked at them and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. 'Dad, what's happening?' her voice was hoarse and almost childlike. Harry sat on the edge of the bed as Susan sat up and he quickly wrapped his arms around her while she buried her head in his shoulder. 'I'm scared.'

'I know, Sue, I know,' Harry spoke soothingly as he stroked her hair.

'My chest hurts. It feels like my heart is flying.'

The Doctor stared at the readings on the scanner, then glanced back at where Harry and Susan still sat. 'Your hearts haven't equalised yet, Sue.'

Sarah and Alan came running in and made their way towards Susan. Harry stood up and Sarah took his place, wrapping her arms around Susan and kissing the top of her head. She rubbed her back soothingly. 'I know you're scared, Sue, I can feel it coming from you, but it'll be all right. I promise.'

The Doctor stepped back over to Susan. 'Sue, I'm going to help you go back to sleep. You need more time for your systems to equalise.' He reached out and took her hand. 'You're going to be all right, but you just need time.'

She cleared her throat to try and strengthen her voice. 'I don't want to sleep, Doctor. I want to be better. Alan and I are supposed to be leaving on our honeymoon.' She pulled her hand away from the Doctor and turned to Alan. 'You have to know I never wanted things to be like this.' Susan took a deep breath. 'I'm sure all the paperwork hasn't been filed yet. You knew marrying me that I wasn't quite human. Now I'm even less human. I will understand if you walk out that door right now and not ever look back. Protect yourself, protect Maria. All I'm doing now is bringing more danger into your life.' Tears filled her eyes as she waited for his reaction.

Alan walked over and took her face in his hands. 'And what kind of life would that be without you?' He wiped away the remnants of a fallen tear with the pad of his thumb. 'I knew danger before I met you, Sue, thanks to your mum.' His eyes shot over to Sarah as she smiled. 'She's taught me and Maria a lot, including how to protect ourselves. Most of the time, anyway. I don't care if you're slightly human, half-human, or not human at all. It doesn't matter to me. I love you, Sue. Always will. You can't get rid of me that easily.' He leaned in and kissed her ever so gently before pulling back and staring into her eyes.

As the Doctor walked over, Alan took a step back. The Doctor reached out and touched Susan's temple. 'Time to sleep, Sue.' Susan's head dropped onto Sarah's shoulder. Sarah and Alan manoeuvred her back to a reclining position.

'Does she have to stay in here, Doctor?' Alan asked.

He shook his head. 'We can take her to another room.' He gave Alan a small smile. 'You can then stay with her, if you like.'

Alan quickly nodded. 'Yes please. Thank you, Doctor.'

~!~!~!~

Susan opened her eyes groggily. She looked next to her and saw Alan sleeping next to her. She turned slightly and reached out to put a hand against Alan's chest. He bolted awake and smiled when he saw Susan looking at him, a gentle smile crossing her face.

He reached out and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. 'How are you feeling?'

'Like I've been hit by a truck,' she admitted, her voice hoarse. She looked around. 'Where are we?'

'On the TARDIS. The Doctor brought you in here when he finished running his tests.'

Susan started to sit up. 'I need to go find out what happened.'

Alan quickly reached out and pulled her back down, wrapping his arms around her. 'Oh no you don't.'

'Alan, I need…'

He cut her off, 'No you don't. You nearly died, Sue, you need to get your rest.'

She turned to look at him. 'There's something you're not telling me.'

'What do you remember?'

'In the reception hall, the whole room filled with gas, I don't remember getting out.'

He took a deep breath. 'Your heart stopped. In getting it started again, it started your second heart.'

'I only have one heart.'

'Apparently not. You've always had a second dormant heart, according to your father, and they got both of them beating.'

Susan frowned. 'That explains why my chest hurts.'

'You don't remember us getting you into the TARDIS and you staying in sickbay?'

Susan looked down. 'I was hoping that was a bad dream. I gave you the option to walk away.'

'And I turned it down. Flatly, if you'll remember.' He leaned in to kiss her.

'Oh yes, now I definitely remember that,' a smile finally crossed her features.

~!~!~!~

Harry ran a hand over his eyes as he sat on the sofa in Sarah's living room. Sarah walked in with two mugs of tea in her hands. She handed one to Harry as she sat next to him. 'Long day, huh?'

'Thanks.' He sighed before taking a sip of tea. 'One of the longest.'

Sarah looked down, staring into her mug. 'I never expected all of this to come out like this. Up until today, we'd kept this all a quiet family secret.' It was her turn to sigh. 'I'm really sorry, Harry.'

'Thing is Sarah, I'm not sure which of us this is worse for.' He sat his tea down, stood up and crossed to look out the front window. 'UNIT will not be pleased that she kept this from them. It might not go well for her. The Brig said he'd make a few phone calls, but depending on her recovery, she might not pass her physical.' He glanced back at Sarah before turning back to look out the window. 'And now they know she can't be my daughter.' His voice cracked ever so slightly before he cleared his throat to try and maintain his composure.

Sarah quickly crossed over to him and looped her arms around his waist. 'Oh, Harry,' she said softly, tears in her eyes. 'I've hurt you so much, and I'm sorry.'

Harry wrapped his arms around her. They each rested their heads on the other's shoulders, both of them finally breaking down and shedding the tears that were years in coming. 'I always wanted a family, Sarah. Wife, kids, dog, house in the country.' He pulled back and looked in her eyes.

Neither one of them noticed the Doctor start to exit the TARDIS from where it was still parked in the corner. When he saw Sarah and Harry, he didn't want to intrude, so he partially closed the door and waited for an opening.

'There were only ever two women I've wanted to spend my life with, Sarah. I married the first one, only to lose her less than four years later. The other one gave me my daughter and stood by me during some of the darkest days of my life.' He took Sarah's hands in his. 'I watched you go through your own hell, Sarah. When I finally found out you were pregnant with Sue, and yet you let me stay with Elizabeth. You had to suspect that Sue was the Doctor's child then. Is that why you turned down my marriage proposal then?'

Sarah gently shook her head. 'No, I had no reason to think that. The Doctor left me several months prior, so the timing didn't fit. I didn't marry you, because you loved another woman. Elizabeth was one of my closest friends, I wasn't going to destroy her happiness because I was careless.'

He reached up and took her face in his hands. 'And on Trivid, when we thought you were dead, then we found you, but you were in such bad shape.'

'You told me once that you'd hold me till the end of time if I'd let you,' she said softly, her eyes filling with fresh tears.

'I still would, Sarah Jane. Despite everything, I still would.'

Sarah pulled away from him, turning away completely. 'You deserve better, Harry. I can't love you the way you deserve to be loved.'

'I know you still love the Doctor, Sarah. I saw it in your eyes when you were dancing with him at the wedding. You look at him the same way you did thirty years ago, but he left you. He abandoned you when you were pregnant and needed him the most. It's what he does. Sarah, he'll leave again. I won't go anywhere. I can give you what he never can.' As Harry spoke, Sarah's head bowed and her shoulders slouched.

After a minute, Sarah held her head up, took a deep breath and turned back towards him. 'Why didn't you tell me when you found out about Sue's hearts?'

He sighed. 'You may think that I'm unselfish or noble, but the truth is, I'm a very selfish man. There was no way I would tell you, just on the chance that you'd take Sue away from me. The last thing I wanted to do was lose her too.'

She shook her head vehemently, her voice rising. 'Now that's not fair! You had to know that I'd never do that to you. I let you raise her! I let you raise MY daughter. I didn't ask for ANY input into her life. I trusted you to keep her safe.'

'Sarah, if the Doctor had come back into your life, you would've dropped everything and run back to him.' Harry was starting to get angry now as well. 'Hell, I'll be half surprised if you stay here now. I could just see you packing up your daughter and running back to him to be the perfect family unit. But guess what, Sarah Jane, the Doctor doesn't do family.' He pointed at the TARDIS and practically yelled. 'There's a young woman recuperating in there that he would never acknowledge unless forced to. He's too protective of his own skin. He can't love you like you deserve to be loved, Sarah. He can't be the man you want him to be.'

After listening to all of this the Doctor finally stormed out of the TARDIS and stalked over to stand beside Sarah. His eyes were dark and stormy, but he kept his voice low. 'Harry, you are a friend of mine, but you are in no position to say who I care for, or how I care for them, or whether it's appropriate or not.'

Harry and the Doctor stared at each other, neither one saying a word and neither one noticing Sarah as she walked away, tears streaking her cheeks.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N - Many thanks to Sleepismyfriend for her help with this chapter!  
_

CHAPTER SEVEN_  
_

Susan bolted upright and out of Alan's arms. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

She held up a hand to him and closed her eyes. After a minute, she tilted her head ever so slightly, then paused again. She finally opened her eyes and turned to Alan. 'It's Mum, she's really upset. I told her to meet me in the galley if she could get back in the TARDIS.'

'What happened?'

'Dad and the Doctor are getting into it, near as I can tell.' Susan sighed. 'I'll know more when I talk to her. I can only get so much when Mum's outside.'

'You're gonna need to explain at some point how that whole telepathy thing works.'

Susan smiled as she got out of bed and walked over to a closet. 'If I knew, I'd tell you. I know the TARDIS is accentuating it.' She glanced back at Alan. 'I wonder if she remembers my size.'

'What?'

'Watch this.' Susan opened the closet. 'She knows your size and picks out a style.' She pulled out a pair of comfortable trousers and a plain black top and quickly pulled them on. 'Or moods, sometimes. She and I had some of the best times playing in the wardrobe.'

'You talk about the TARDIS like it's alive.'

'Of course she is. She was my home for the better part of five years. I got to know her pretty well, and I like to think that she likes me.' Susan reached over and put her hand along the doorframe. She smiled as she felt the thrum of the engines underneath her fingers. 'Awww, she loves me.' She patted the frame. 'I love you too, sweetheart.'

Alan shook his head slightly and smiled, enjoying Susan's enthusiasm.

Susan closed her eyes and frowned. 'Oh that is so not good.'

'What's wrong?'

'The Doctor's conversation with Dad. It's crossing the line. I'm going to have to talk to them.'

Alan stood up and walked over to her. 'Wait, Sue. You go talk with Sarah. I'll go see what's going on with the Doctor and Harry.'

'Are you sure? They can be a handful.'

Alan wrapped his arms around her. 'I think I can handle it. After all, I am all grown up now, Mrs. Jackson.'

Susan returned his embrace and smiled. 'Don't I know it, Mr. Jackson.'

~!~!~!~

The Doctor and Harry continued to stare at one another. Finally, Harry spoke. 'Come on, Doctor. We both know that you may have feelings for Sarah, but you're never going to act on them. You could never give her any sort of commitment.'

The Doctor kept his tone very low. 'My relationship with Sarah is really none of your business, is it?'

'Oh no? Who was it that picked her up when you left her in Aberdeen? Who raised her child? The child that I might add ultimately we found out was yours.'

The Doctor began to pace around the room. 'Harry, you have no idea what was going on, or why I couldn't come back.'

'After Trivid, who made sure that both Sue and Sarah were all right?'

'I offered to take you somewhere to recuperate.'

'Just a vacation. Not sticking around and getting involved in their lives. You've never been involved in Sue's life. At least, not when it mattered.'

The Doctor sighed. 'You make it sound like I've never been a parent before. Well, I've been a father, several times over. You just told Sarah that you didn't tell her about Sue's second heart, because you didn't want to lose her, correct?'

Harry nodded. 'That's right.'

'And yet you accuse me of not caring about her? What sort of relationship do you expect me to have with Susan, other than the one I have? I couldn't be a father to Susan, could I? She had you in her life, good old stable Harry. You've spent time with me. What could I have possibly offered her besides pain and heartache and risk?'

'You could have offered her something. Anything would've been better than nothing.'

'Oh really? Sue was sixteen before she found out about Sarah. That was literally the first time we could've told her the truth because of other factors. We all saw how badly she reacted finding out about Sarah. Do you think you would've been able to salvage any of your relationship if she'd learned the truth then? You'd already lost your wife, would you have wanted to lose Sue at that point?'

'Sue accepted Sarah's part in her childhood. She knew I would always be there for her.'

The Doctor locked his gaze with Harry's. 'Deep down, you don't want to do anything to jeopardise your relationship with Susan, even now. Despite what you say, you feel threatened by my being here. You've never been able to grasp that there are things that transcend time and space and thought. Think about that Harry. My relationship with Sarah and the relationship I've carved out with Susan don't fall into your normal human standards. We go beyond that, and that is something you will never understand.'

~!~!~!~

As Sarah entered the galley, she saw Susan sitting at the nearby table, absently running a hand across the back of her neck. 'Do you know how many times I've seen the Doctor do that?'

Susan looked up. 'Do what?'

Sarah sat down next to Susan. 'Run his hand along the back of his neck like that.'

Susan smiled. 'I've seen you do it too, when you're thinking about something.' She looked over to Sarah. 'Mum, can I ask you an honest question?'

'Of course.'

'Have I always done things that reminded me of the Doctor?'

Sarah smiled, but shook her head. 'No, not really. Not until you got back from travelling with him. I just figured you picked up some of his mannerisms during the years you were with him.' She reached out and took Susan's hand. 'How are you feeling?'

'Like I've been drug through a ringer, but I'll get over it.' She reached up and tapped her temple. 'But what about you? It wasn't easy listening to that conversation, so I can't imagine being a part of it.'

'You heard that?'

Susan nodded. 'I think the TARDIS has accentuated the telepathic bond between you, the Doctor and I. So, Mum?'

'I will always care for Harry, and he's accepted so much where I was concerned. More than he should ever have had to deal with. He loves you, and nothing will change that. I think they're both reacting to feeling helpless to help you. The Doctor thought you were dead, but then Harry mentioned your second heart. In fact, it was Luke that suggested how to revive you, and the Doctor that took that and went with it.'

'What about your relationship with the Doctor?'

'It's complicated,' Sarah admitted.

'Don't I know it. You still care for each other very much, don't you?'

Sarah nodded. 'Yes. I'd like to think we always will. It crosses time and space, and it doesn't seem to matter which face he wears, but he still means as much to me as he always has.'

Susan sighed. 'Mum, how alien am I?'

Sarah gave her a questioning look. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, I didn't even know I wasn't human until a few years ago. Now I find out I have two hearts. How many more things aren't human about me?' She crossed her arms and put them on the table, putting her head down on them. 'I just don't know who I am anymore,' she mumbled.

Sarah pulled her chair close to Susan, reached over, wrapping her arm around Susan's shoulders and put her head down on Susan's shoulder, close to her ear. 'Sue, you're my daughter,' she said soothingly. 'I love you, and nothing is going to change that.' She began to smooth down Susan's hair reassuringly. 'I may not have been there for you when you were younger as much as I should've been, and for that I'm sorry, and always will be. I don't know what our lives would've been like if we'd admitted the truth back then. I have to keep telling myself that things have turned out all right.'

Susan turned her head to look up at Sarah. 'They did. Not traditional, but I like to think I have a larger family because of how things worked out.' Susan sat up slowly, and pushed herself to stand up. 'We need to go make sure Harry and the Doctor haven't killed each other.'

'Are you all right?'

Susan nodded. 'Wobbly, but fine.'

Sarah put a steadying arm around Susan's waist. 'All right. Let's go figure out what's going on.'

As they walked towards the console room, Susan glanced over at Sarah. 'Mum, one other thing. Whatever happens between you and the Doctor, remember those mental blocks, yea?'

Sarah gave Susan a gentle squeeze, 'Sorry about that.'

They entered the console room, and as Susan went to reach for the door lever, Alan walked in from behind them. Susan looked back towards him. 'I thought you were going out to make sure Dad and the Doctor hadn't killed each other.'

Alan frowned. 'I was, it took me all this time to find this place.'

Susan smiled as she rested her hands on the console. 'The TARDIS is just playing with you, seeing how you'd react.' She closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side. After a minute she turned and looked back at Alan. 'She likes you.' She paused for a minute and laughed. 'And she says welcome to the family.'

~!~!~!~


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Harry and the Doctor both turned as the TARDIS doors opened and Alan, Susan and Sarah all emerged. 'Sue, are you sure you should be out of bed?' Harry asked.

'Dad, I'm fine. Really.' Susan looked from Harry over to the Doctor. 'What about you two?'

'What about us two?' Harry inquired.

'You're having quite the discussion.' Susan tapped her temple.

The Doctor crossed over to her and put a hand on her arm. 'I'm sorry Susan. I should've put up some barriers for you. You really shouldn't be out of bed.'

Susan brushed him off. 'I'm fine, Doctor, really.' She wobbled slightly and Alan carefully wrapped an arm around her waist.

'Are you sure?' Alan whispered into her ear.

She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. 'Of course, I am. Once I get clearance from my Doctor here, we can actually leave.'

The Doctor reached out again, taking Susan's hand in his and taking her pulse. 'Your hearts seem to be beating normally now.' He regarded her for a moment. 'You're pale.'

'I'm still a bit weak, but I'm ok, really Doctor.'

The Doctor reached up and cupped Susan's cheek with his hand. 'Yes, outside of the TARDIS's protective field, you will be weaker. She was stabilising you to some extent. But, I think you'll be all right now, as long as you get plenty of rest.'

'But I wouldn't be, if it wasn't for you.' Susan leaned up and kissed him on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 'Thank you, Doctor.'

He smiled and returned her hug. 'I'd do anything for you, Sue, I hope you know that.'

Susan stepped back and looked into his eyes. 'Of course I do, Doctor. You've already done so much.' She glanced back at Harry before continuing, 'More than was necessary.'

Harry's mobile rang, breaking the mood. He shot a look at the Doctor before walking out of the room to go answer it. Susan turned to Sarah and Alan. 'Would you two excuse us for a moment? I'd like a word with the Doctor.'

'Sure, we'll be in the kitchen,' Sarah responded before she and Alan headed towards the kitchen.

The Doctor stepped away from her, absently running a hand through his hair. 'What's on your mind, Susan?'

Susan frowned. 'Oh, calling me by my full name now. Nice. Now, about that conversation you were having with Harry.'

The Doctor began to pace. 'I don't know what to do, Sue. He wants me to be involved in your life, but he doesn't want me around. I'm a threat to him.'

A wave of dizziness washed over Susan. She staggered slightly. 'I have to sit down.' The Doctor guided Susan to the sofa and they both sat down. She bent over and held her head in her hands for a moment before sitting up. 'Here's how I see it. Harry's always come in second best to you. First with Sarah, and now with me.'

'But that's not true,' the Doctor countered.

'No, but it's his perception on things. Mum loves you, she always has. For the last twenty-five plus years, he's been face to face with me, knowing that I was your child, not his. A constant reminder of your and Mum's relationship. And now, his medicine couldn't save me, because I'm not human enough.'

The Doctor frowned. 'Sue, it's not like that, really.'

'No? Why else would you be a threat? Sarah, Luke and I are his only family now, and yet, technically we're closer to being your family than his.' Susan sighed. 'I love Harry, he's the only father I've ever known. I would never turn my back on him.'

'But?'

'I can't deny who I am though. Not anymore.' Susan ran a hand over her eyes. 'I don't know how to live like this, Doctor. With a foot in each world. I don't know where I belong anymore.'

'Your place is here, on Earth, with the people that love you. Sarah, Harry and Alan.'

'I don't mean physically. I'm married now, I'm not leaving Earth, but I wish I knew more about what to expect.'

'Well, I can't honestly tell you. Sarah's not your typical human. If she had been, you never would've been conceived.'

'I know. Thing is, does she know?' Susan looked around, to make sure no one else had come back in. 'The telepathy, her age? All of those things that don't quite add up. She knows she's different, I can sense that, but how much does she really know?'

The Doctor sighed. 'She knows enough.' He reached out and put an arm around Susan's shoulders.

Susan leaned over and put her head on the Doctor's shoulder. 'So what do we do?'

'Take it just one day at a time, I suppose.'

Just then, Harry walked back in. As Susan saw him, she sat up straight. 'Important call, Dad?'

Harry nodded and sat down in one of the nearby chairs. 'The Brigadier. They were able to analyse the remnants of that gas at the hall.'

'I'm not going to like it, am I?'

'They know it had a certain level of hydrogen cyanide in it, but not enough to be lethal to humans. There was another chemical in it that they couldn't identify. If they wanted to simply kill everyone, they could have.'

'So they were trying to send a warning to the people assembled there.' Susan frowned. 'I don't like it. It had to have been the Gentaris. Which means I have to figure out what that warning message is.'

The Doctor turned to her. 'No, Sue. We'll figure it out, but you're not to get involved.'

'I'm already involved.'

'Well, I'm un-involving you. You and Alan will go on your honeymoon as planned.' He turned to Harry. 'We should put out word that she was killed in the attack. That will give us time to figure out whether it was the Gentaris, and what they wanted, and why they were after Susan.'

Sarah and Alan walked back in. 'What are you all looking so serious about?' Sarah asked.

'We think the Gentaris specifically targeted me, as a warning, but we need to find what that warning was supposed to be.' Susan stood up, and walked towards the window. 'I sometimes think I'm getting too old to be a soldier.'

Harry stood up and walked over to stand behind Susan. 'You're never too old, if you enjoy what you do. Besides, you're only 33.'

Susan turned towards him. 'Ah. Yeah, there's a point.' She glanced over at Alan, then over to the Doctor and Sarah and finally back to Harry. 'Linearly, I'm only 33. The reality on the other hand, is different.'

Sarah smiled. 'You suffer from the same problem I do, just not to the same extent.'

Harry looked from Susan to Sarah and back to Susan. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh come on you two,' the Doctor started. 'Don't dwell on age. It's just a number.'

Sarah turned to him. 'Says you. Claiming to only be 906.' She shook her head.

'Oi. After you cross a thousand, who's counting?'

Sarah laughed, 'That would be like me claiming to be 43. It's just ridiculous.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'So when did you quit counting?'

'Somewhere around 75. No one would believe me anyway.'

Now it was Susan's turn to laugh. 'And here I thought my being close to 40 was a stretch.'

Alan stood up and crossed over to Susan and wrapped her in a warm embrace. 'Oh, my older woman, I love it.' He laughed and quickly nuzzled her neck.

She playfully smacked his shoulder. 'Behave you.'

Both the Doctor and Sarah laughed. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't wipe the scowl off his face. 'I don't get how you can make a joke out of all of this.' He gestured towards Susan. 'You treat this entire situation lightly, and with each further thing, you seem to lose your humanity. You nearly died today, and now you're joking about how old you are or aren't.'

'Dad, this is my life. I am not entirely human. Why should I pretend to be? It's better to embrace who I am, right?'

'But what about who you were raised around?'

'It still doesn't require being serious.'

'You're being childish.'

Susan looked at Sarah, then they both looked at the Doctor and shared a smile before all three turned to Harry and said in unison, 'There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.'

Harry looked at the three of them before turning and walking away. As he left, he slammed the front door behind him.

Susan looked over at Sarah. 'What was that about?'

'I'll go after him,' Sarah said before heading out the door. Harry was already walking down the street. 'Harry, wait,' she called after him.

He turned and walked back to her. 'Sarah, I might get Susan joking about all this, but you? You know how serious this is. Our daughter was nearly killed today.'

'I realise that, but why can't we still enjoy a moment? Despite everything that's happened, today was supposed to be a happy day for our daughter.'

Harry stopped several paces away from Sarah. 'Don't you see what's going on here, Sarah?'

Sarah put her hands on her hips. 'No, I don't, Harry. What are you talking about? Why are you being like this?'

He pointed at the house. 'You can't see it. You never could. That man, that Time Lord, that alien is twisting everything around.'

'What?' Sarah gave him a confused look. 'Where are you going with this?'

'You and Sue being around him has made you both take unnecessary chances, and you're both all right with it, no matter who gets hurt in the process. You've put him up on a pedestal, you always have and in your eyes he can do no wrong! Can't for once you put someone besides him first? Like your daughter, or your son?'

'Do you think because we shared a joke means that I don't care about my children? That I wouldn't do anything in my power to keep them safe? Why do I have to conform to your standards of how I should behave? I will always be thankful for your involvement in Susan's life, and now in Luke's, but that doesn't make me any more human than I was thirty years ago. You knew my genetic structure had been altered even when we travelled with the Doctor, and you never judged me for it before. So why now? What's changed?'

'I'm not judging you, in fact it's just the opposite! I love you, Sarah, but you could never see it. You could never see beyond the Doctor to see that someone could love and care about you no matter what!' With that, he quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed both of her upper arms and kissed her forcefully. He broke away, and without another word, turned and walked away.

Sarah watched him leave, unable to move, her entire body trembling as she caught her breath. She jumped as the Doctor came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, not having seen the exchange.

'You all right, Sarah? What happened?'

After a minute, Sarah finally turned to the Doctor and answered both questions with one statement. 'I honestly have no idea.'

~!~!~!~


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N - Own nothing, just playing in the sandbox!  
_

CHAPTER NINE

Susan stepped back away from the window. 'I just had a nasty thought.'

Alan handed her a mug of tea. 'What's that?'

'If it was the Gentaris, they knew where both the wedding and the reception were. Which means, they may know where we'd planned on going.' She took a deep breath. 'How keen were you on Bermuda anyway?'

Alan leaned over and kissed her temple before taking her free hand and guiding her back to the sofa. 'We'll go anywhere in the world, as long as it's safe. Until UNIT figures out what's going on, I would rather us lay low somewhere. I'm sure we could find someplace inconspicuous.'

'This is certainly not how I expected to begin our married life together.'

Alan put his tea down, then took Susan's tea and sat it on the nearby table. He turned back to her and took her face in his hands and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. 'As long as we're together, it doesn't matter if we're on the moon.'

'I'm concerned about them finding us here. I don't want to put Mum and Luke in any danger. I don't want you to be in any danger either. Maybe you should go back to America, and I can find someplace quiet to wait this out.' Susan sighed, 'Especially if UNIT won't let me be involved.'

'You know I'm not worried about the danger, Sue.'

'Yes, but I am. Worried about both you and Maria.'

Alan reached out and ran a hand soothingly through Susan's hair. 'Let's wait until we see what UNIT has to say next, then we'll figure out what we need to do, all right?' He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

Susan nestled into his embrace, tucking her head up under his chin and closing her eyes. 'Ultimately, I don't have a choice, do I?'

He tightened his grip around her. 'Nope. Not if I have anything to say about it.'

~!~!~!~

Sarah ignored the Doctor's hand on her shoulder and turned back to watch Harry's retreating form. Once he was completely out of sight, Sarah walked away without a word and sat down on the bench in the back garden. The Doctor didn't take his eyes off of her, simply watched her movements. 'Sarah?' he finally asked.

She sighed. 'I've never asked you to put our relationship into words. It was never necessary.'

The Doctor sat down next to her. 'Mere human words would've never done it justice. You just knew where things stood between us.'

'Until you left. I had homed in on you like a compass. You were due north, and as long as we were going in the same direction, things were good. Then I was back on Earth without you and had no idea which end was up.'

He reached out and took her hand in his, but said nothing.

'Harry knew, and he understood that. He never asked for anything in return. Time progressed, as it always does when you're stuck on this slow path, and life brought us Susan.' She took a deep breath. 'Then he lost his wife, and despite everything, we remained friends, but nothing more. He wanted me involved in Sue's life, but there was only so much I could do, especially given that I was always looking over my shoulder. I took so much from him, giving really nothing in return.' She reached up with her free hand and brushed away the tears that were threatening to fall. 'Then Sue and I got stuck on Trivid and had to finally acknowledge who I was to her. And you were there, in the middle of it, then gone again and we were back on Earth. I never thought I'd see you again, but now, you're here. You're a part of my life, and Sue's. It's more than I ever expected, and I treasure it for what it is, a tiny sliver of time. However, Harry's right, you will leave again.'

'Sarah,' the Doctor started, but she shushed him.

'No, Doctor, you won't stay here. You can't. It isn't in your nature.'

The Doctor took a deep breath and reached up with the hand that wasn't still holding Sarah's and turned her face gently towards him. 'You know about the prophecy. I told you last night.'

She nodded. 'I know, that's how I know you'll leave again.'

'It doesn't have to happen now. I can stay, for a while. Or you could come with me, again, just for a while. I know you have your life here, Sarah, and I don't want to take away from that.'

'You're such a big part of my life, any way you look at it.'

'And you mine. I keep coming back to you, Sarah. I've never done that with anyone else. Granted, it wasn't what either of us had in mind. It's been almost 500 years for me, Sarah, and no one even comes close to what we have.'

'Doctor? What about…'

'Shhhh.' He leaned in close to her and kissed her, cautiously at first, then with more persistence as he reached up with both hands and held her face close to his. 'My Sarah Jane,' he whispered as he pulled back to allow her to breathe.

She pulled back from him and stood up. 'No Doctor. I can't do this right now.' She walked into the house, the Doctor following at a distance.

Sarah stopped in the kitchen to put on the kettle, not speaking to the Doctor as he stopped for a moment and simply stared at her back. Sighing, he walked on into the living room and without a word to Susan or Alan, went into the TARDIS.

Susan looked at the closed doors of the TARDIS. Frowning, she walked over and put her hand on the door frame. After a minute, she turned back to Alan. 'I think I'm living the Time Lord version of Corrie.' She sighed. 'I need to talk to him, but he's going to be cranky.'

'What about Sarah Jane?' Alan asked.

Susan thought for a moment. 'You've been friends for a while, so maybe she'll talk to you. She needs an impartial ear at the moment. I'm not sure that I can be that for her.'

Alan walked up and gently kissed Susan on the temple. 'Go talk to the Doctor, I'll talk to Sarah Jane.'

Susan reached up and ran a hand along Alan's cheek. 'Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?'

'Not recently.'

Susan leaned over and kissed him tenderly. 'Let's get through a bit of family drama and figure out who's trying to kill me so we can go on our honeymoon and spend some proper time together.'

'I'm looking forward to it,' he said softly as he turned and headed towards the kitchen.

Susan watched him briefly, before entering the TARDIS and instinctively making her way towards sickbay. She stood in the doorway for a moment, watching the Doctor study readings on the various monitors, going back and forth between them.

'So what are you trying to analyse now?' she asked him.

Without looking up, the Doctor answered, 'I thought I'd see if I'd missed something earlier when I did the analysis of your reaction to the gas.'

'You didn't. And you know what the UNIT tests showed.' She walked into the room and hopped up on the bed. 'So, tell me why you're really in here.'

He glanced up at her then. 'I imagine you already know.'

'I do, but you still need to say it.'

He absently ran a hand through his hair. 'I'm not good at this, Sue. I'm a Time Lord, I can't be the person you or Sarah need.'

'Who says we need a person?'

'You know what I mean.'

'No, Doctor, I don't. I want you in my life, but I hate to say it, I don't need you. I still don't look at you as a father figure. If your next incarnation is older looking, maybe, but only if something ever happened to Harry. I travelled with you for five years, and I'd like to think I got to know you pretty well in that time, and I care for you very much.' She stared at him for a minute. 'What do you think Sarah needs?'

'Sarah needs someone reliable in her life. Someone who can stand beside her and support her. Someone dependable.'

'Like Harry,' Susan suggested.

'Exactly like Harry.'

'But she doesn't love Harry. She loves you, Doctor. Always has, always will. You missed thirty years of her life, and she let you back in pretty much without question. Not many people would do that.'

'Sarah is not your average person.'

Susan laughed. 'That's one way of putting it. Her genetic structure has been modified by exposure and experimentation until she doesn't feel human half the time. Even her being pregnant with me altered her biology. Did you know that would happen?'

The Doctor looked up and shook his head. 'There weren't exactly reference materials on half-human half-Gallifreyan pregnancies and the repercussions on the maternal DNA.'

'But you knew that there was a possibility?'

'It wasn't on my mind at the time.'

Susan coughed to keep from laughing again. 'I suppose not. Well, you need to know something about who Sarah is now. She sees herself as an outsider in her own life, and until she adopted Luke, she kept everyone at a distance. Including me, including Harry. Do you know that you and Harry are the only ones that she doesn't get absolutely peeved with if they call her Sarah? Well, and me, before I was comfortable calling her Mum. To the rest of the world, she's Sarah Jane. It happened after Trivid, and it's just a convenient excuse to keep people at arm's length. She wasn't even going to let Luke call her Mum at first.'

'What's your point, Susan?'

Susan sighed and shook her head. 'I know you've been a bit morbid since that whole prophecy thing came up. But you and I spent five years together after you first heard that your "song was ending" as you said it was presented.'

'Ah, but now I've been summoned by the Ood and I know that once I answer that, it'll be the beginning of the end.'

'Your relationship with Sarah has crossed regenerations before.'

'This is different.'

'How?'

'Because…' he trailed off as he sat next to Susan. 'It just feels different this time. I can't explain.'

'But you're going to try.'

'I really wish I knew, Sue. I was told my song was ending. There's a part of me that thinks that this isn't a regeneration, it's a death. Pure and simple. I don't want to expose you and Sarah to that. You two are the closest I have to family. I don't want to do anything to jeopardise that.'

'So you want to distance yourself from me and Mum?'

He shook his head. 'No, that's not it at all, Sue.'

Susan leaned into the Doctor's shoulder. 'Then tell me.'

'If something were to happen, I don't want you two to be there. Meaning that I don't want to do anything to put you in danger.'

'You mean any more than we already are in just by our own nature.'

The Doctor turned to Susan and nodded. 'Exactly. You and Sarah don't exactly live quiet lives. Between all the things that Sarah does and your work with UNIT.'

'I nearly died today, Doctor. It wasn't because you were in my life, but you were there. My enemies tried to kill me today.'

'And you think I'd want to bring you into any more issues with my life? I don't think so.'

'I just think you need to think about whether you want to sacrifice the relationships you have with the people you just admitted were the closest you have to family for the sake of protecting us. Are you protecting us, or protecting yourself?'

The Doctor jumped up and turned around to face Susan, his face inches from hers. 'That's not fair.'

She simply raised an eyebrow in response. They continued to stare at each other before Susan finally broke the silence. 'Just think about it, Doctor.'

~!~!~!~


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N - Cliffhangers? Nah, don't believe in them! :)  
_

CHAPTER TEN

Alan walked into the kitchen just as Sarah finished making a cup of tea. 'Would you like one?' Sarah asked, offering him a mug. 'I made enough for four.'

Alan gestured back towards the living room. 'The Doctor made a beeline for the TARDIS. Sue went to go talk to him.'

'Ah, so you've been drafted as the designated representative to talk to me?'

'Not exactly. We're friends, Sarah Jane. We were even before I met Sue. I know it's not been an easy day for you.'

They sat down at the table. 'Well, that's one way of putting it. I never saw things turning out this way.'

'What do you mean?'

'There's a part of me that feels like I came so close to losing Sue today. I don't have a lot of experience as a parent, but I know that I can't imagine anything happening to either her or Luke.'

'I know how you feel. We want to protect our kids, even if it means throwing ourselves in the firing line.'

'I think I finally know how you felt when you learned that Maria was involved my extra-curricular alien activities.' Sarah reached over and put her hand over Alan's. 'I'm really very sorry I put you through that.'

'That's water under the bridge. Ultimately, that's what brought Sue into my life, so I'm certainly not going to be sorry for that.'

Sarah laughed, 'I would hope not!'

'I am concerned about Harry's reaction though. I'm surprised he left.'

'I think he was overwhelmed. It happens to the best of us.' Sarah took a sip of her tea before continuing. 'Harry has been functioning as Susan's father her whole life, taking care of her when no one else could. Today he felt surplus to requirements.'

A confused look crossed Alan's face. 'The Doctor isn't trying to push him out of the way, is he?'

Sarah shook her head. 'Oh no, it's nothing like that. Harry and Sue have a very close relationship, and the Doctor wouldn't do anything to come in between them. Harry is also a bit frustrated, because he would like me to make a decision, but it's not something I can think about right now.'

'What do you mean?'

'Harry has always been a very dear friend of mine, and an excellent father to Sue. And now even Luke thinks of him as a father. After everything that's happened, I think he wants us to be more of a family, but I can't give him anything more than friendship. At least right now.'

Alan nodded understandingly. 'Because of the Doctor?'

'It's daft, isn't it? I mean, the Doctor's an ancient Time Lord, and I'm just a human.'

'Sarah Jane, may I make an observation?'

'Of course.'

'Ever since Maria and I met you, you've had the stars in your eyes. You've taken everything we've ever seen in stride. Some of it you'd seen before, some not, but you didn't panic, you didn't have to have a plan or an agenda, just took things as they came and used your gut instinct to do what was best.' He took a deep breath. 'And now, based on what you were saying earlier, you're not quite human, so the "just a human" comment doesn't quite wash.'

'No, I guess not, not anymore. I have been exposed to too much over the years. Things have never been simple, that's certain.'

Alan smiled. 'You realise, Sarah Jane, that this does explain quite a few things.'

Sarah laughed, 'Yes, I suppose it does.'

'Let me ask you this. What do you want?'

'Other than wanting to take away everything that happened to my daughter today.' She quickly added, 'Not the wedding, but the Gentaris, I mean.'

'Right, of course. I actually meant where Harry and the Doctor are concerned.'

Sarah sighed and drank more of her tea. 'I've known them both a very long time. I care for them both, but honestly, I think friendship is the only thing I can ever give Harry.'

'Why?' Alan asked.

'Does it matter?'

'It does to you. Sometimes it helps to put your feelings into words, I'm just an impartial observer.'

Sarah nodded. 'You're right, about words, that is. Words are my weapon of choice, that's for sure.' Closing her eyes, she thought for a moment before speaking. 'Harry and I have always been friends, but we see the Universe in completely separate ways. Harry is a realist. His entire life has to have all the t's crossed and the i's dotted. I appreciate that about him, but in another sense, it drives me crazy.'

'It certainly doesn't match up too much with your personality. You pretty much roll with the punches.'

'It's part of what the Doctor taught me. You improvise and it throws off those that have plans and it's what makes us better. I also can't forget that Harry knew about Sue's second heart, and never told me. Which is something he and I still need to talk more about. He knew that Sue was the Doctor's daughter, but he didn't tell me.'

'I get the impression that Harry sees things completely in black and white.'

Sarah nodded. 'He does, which is why it surprises me that he wouldn't have been honest about Sue. Certainly I had a right to know.'

'Maybe, maybe not.' Alan considered his next words carefully. 'If someone told me that I wasn't Maria's biological father, I'd assume that Chrissie knew, and that she was just trying to keep it from me. I don't know that I'd say anything, and certainly wouldn't say anything to Maria, because it doesn't change how I feel about her.'

'It's not the same thing though, Alan.'

'Isn't it? Remember how you felt with the Slitheen pretended to be Luke's parents and took him from you? It didn't change how you felt about him.'

Sarah shook her head, but still felt her insides constrict as she thought about what she went through and felt during that time. 'That was different.' She pondered it for a moment. 'Actually, maybe it really isn't, but I can't think that Harry would think that I would take Sue away from him.'

Alan shrugged, 'I can't speak for Harry, that's something you'd have to ask him.'

Sarah stood up quickly. 'Right. No time like the present.'

~!~!~!~

Susan and the Doctor walked into the console room of the TARDIS. The Doctor glanced over at Susan. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

She ran a hand gently over the console before looking up at him. 'Sorry, just having trouble focusing there for a minute.'

The Doctor quickly took a penlight torch out of one of his pockets and began to shine it in Susan's eyes. 'Your pupils keep dilating and contracting. Fairly common for Time Lords post regeneration.' He quickly pocketed the torch, 'Still, nothing to worry about.'

'But that's not what happened to me, is it?'

'Well, not technically, in that what you went through wasn't as traumatic as a full regeneration, but the whole thing with your hearts, and the increased telepathic abilities forming does lend itself to some post-regenerative side effects.'

Susan stared down at the console again, watching various dials and settings. 'The TARDIS could do with a recharge. You ought to park her in Cardiff for a bit.' She glanced back up at the Doctor. 'Doctor, how long will this last?'

The Doctor stood beside her and stared down at the same dials. 'You're right, she could do with a recharge. The effects for you could last another day or two, possibly as long as four, should be no more than that. Biggest thing will just be the weakness, and possibly some dizzy spells.'

Just then, Susan's mobile rang. Before Susan could answer it, the Doctor made a gesture for her to hook it to the TARDIS speakers. 'Call it intuition,' he said softly at her questioning look.

'Hello?'

'So, Human. You still live.' The voice of the Gentaris now echoed through the TARDIS.

'Kreix, so nice to hear from you again,' she said quickly, her voice laced with sarcasm. 'What do you want?'

'Call off your UNIT troops. They continue to search for our ships.'

'I have no control over what UNIT is doing at the moment, Kreix.'

'I disagree, Female. I think you will find that your ability to control the situation becomes much larger when the lives of your father and brother are at stake.'

Susan grabbed the console and glanced over at the Doctor. The Doctor gestured for her to keep them talking as he ran out the door.

The Doctor ran through Sarah's living room, heading directly for the kitchen. Alan stood up as the Doctor bolted through the doorway. 'What's wrong, Doctor?'

'Where's Sarah?'

'She went to Harry's.'

'What?' The Doctor quickly ran a hand through his hair. 'The Gentaris are threatening Harry and Luke, so my guess is going they know where he lives, which means Sarah is danger as well. We'll take the TARDIS.'

Alan quickly followed and they bolted for the TARDIS. As they entered, Susan was already spinning around the console, throwing switching and pulling levers. 'The coordinates are set, Doctor, let's go, no time to waste.' She looked at Alan, then at the Doctor. 'Where's Mum?'

'At Harry's.'

She inhaled sharply, then looked back at the Doctor as a sad smile crossed her features. Barely above a whisper, she asked, 'Allons-y?'

~!~!~!~

As soon as the TARDIS landed, the Doctor, Susan and Alan burst through the doors. The Doctor noticed Sarah's car in the drive. Just as they headed for the front door, an explosion knocked them all to the ground.

~!~!~!~


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N - Oh, what happens next??? You all still reading?  
_

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Doctor jumped up quickly and headed towards Harry's burning house, but the heat and flames were too much for him. Turning back to Susan, he realised she'd not been able to get up further than to kneel. Alan knelt next to her with a supportive arm around her waist. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair repeatedly, a pained expression marring his features, showing how helpless he felt.

Susan closed her eyes, her head dropping. 'My family. Both my parents and my brother,' she gasped out. She felt Alan give her a gentle squeeze. She stood up slowly and walked over to the Doctor. 'Take me back, Doctor. Fifteen minutes, that would be enough.'

'Sue, you know I can't do that.'

She balled up her fists and began to pound on his chest, shouting, 'You can do it, why won't you? Why won't you take me back? I have to save them! You saved a family from Pompeii you told me, and you can't save my family?'

He wrapped his arms tightly around her as she grabbed at his coat. 'I'm sorry, Sue. I'm so, so sorry. You have to know that. I would change this if I could.'

'But it's my mother, it's the woman you love!'

'Susan.' He paused, his voice heavy with emotion. 'I can't. I just…I can't.' He tightened his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

'Sirens, approaching slowly,' Susan whispered. She listened more closely. 'They've stopped.' A beam materialised behind them, leaving three Gentaris standing in their wake. Both Susan and the Doctor turned to look as Alan came to stand beside them. Susan stepped out in front of Alan and the Doctor. She turned to them and spoke softly. 'Get behind the TARDIS and stay out of the way, this is my fight.'

'Susan,' the Doctor cautioned.

She shook her head. 'No, please, do this for me at least. Keep Alan safe.'

After a moment, the Doctor nodded, and he and Alan quickly headed for a protected area near the TARDIS where they could both watch what was going on.

'Kreix,' Susan growled. 'How dare you show your face here? What do you want?'

'Revenge, Female.'

'What are you trying to gain revenge for, Kreix?' Susan asked. 'Because I stopped your invasion force in Indonesia?'

'You have little concept of our laws. Not only do I seek revenge, but the law of the Gentaris requires the sacrifice of a family member when another is taken. As the leader in charge of the group, the atonement is required of you.'

Susan crossed her arms. 'Who died in the invasion attempt?'

'Two of my immediate descendants.'

Susan sighed. 'I am sorry for your loss, Kreix; however, I am not sorry we foiled your invasion attempt. You've tried to kill me twice today, and now you've succeeded in killing three members of my immediate family. Is your revenge satisfied? Or do I have to continue to look around every corner and wonder who you might be after next?'

'Revenge is satisfied, human, but the Gentaris still warrant this world as worthy of colonisation. Given the hostile nature of your species, we do imagine it will be by force.'

'Over my dead body.'

'That can easily be arranged.'

From somewhere behind her, Susan heard a commanding voice shout, 'Sullivan, get down!' Instinctively, she hit the ground, as weapons fire came from all around her, focusing on the three Gentaris.

Susan glanced up and mumbled, 'Energy weapons,' as she watched several beams envelop the Gentaris and promptly disintegrate them, sending bits flying around the area. Once she was sure the weapons were done firing, she looked around as UNIT troops quickly surrounded the area. A UNIT fire brigade also began working on bringing the fire that still worked on the remains of Harry's small house under control.

Susan stood up and began to dust herself off. 'Who ordered that attack?' she asked one of the young soldiers that was cleaning the area.

'I did,' that same commanding voice called out from behind her. 'I pulled rank.'

She smiled as Sir Alistair walked towards her, his cane loudly tapping the concrete as he approached. 'Uncle Alistair! I never thought I'd be so pleased to see anyone.'

'I knew the Gentaris gave up too easily earlier today. I read the Indonesian report, as well as some other encounters we've had with the Gentaris over the years and had a team standing by.'

'You knew they'd come here.'

'Of course, it was the next logical course of action.' Sir Alistair rested a hand gently on Susan's shoulder. 'I am glad to see you in one piece, Sue. You gave us all quite the fright earlier.'

Susan put a hand against her chest and took a deep breath. 'Both a bit fast, but slowing down to normal. Still, nothing to worry too much about, given the circumstances.'

The Doctor and Alan both ran up to her. The Doctor had a very large frown crossing his features. 'Sue, that was very dangerous.'

She nodded. 'Yes, but it worked, didn't it?'

'Well,' the Doctor started.

'Well, nothing, Doctor.' Susan interrupted. 'You would have done the same thing.' She reached up and began to pick bits of shrapnel and Gentaris out of her hair. 'With just as messy results, I might add.'

'Is it finally over? Have we seen the last of the Gentaris?' Alan asked.

The Doctor looked around. 'Yes. I would say it is. UNIT made fairly sure work of them this time.'

Alan quickly wrapped Susan in a hug. 'What a day.'

'You can say that again.' Susan looked around at the smoking remains of Harry's house, and glanced around to all the firemen alongside the UNIT troops working desperately to put out all the flames. Taking a deep breath, she finally called out. 'All right, you can come out now.'

Out from behind a protected wall, Sarah, Luke and Harry all came out and approached them. 'Will one of you finally explain what's going on?' Harry asked exasperatedly.

Susan smiled as she hugged them all in turn. 'After I got the call from the Gentaris, I knew we had to do something. The Doctor went out to get Alan, and once we knew that Mum had gone to see you, it was a matter of just calling her.'

Sarah frowned. 'Sue, all you told me was to trust you and to get us all out of the house.'

Susan smiled, 'Oh yes, I didn't have enough time to plan anything else.'

'My Lord, Sue, you killed me with that act when you came out of the TARDIS,' Harry admitted.

Susan gave a mock bow. 'Thank you Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close up. And for my Oscar.'

Harry looked sadly at the remains of his house. 'I did love that house.'

Sarah looped an arm through his, 'And you'll find another one you love. Important thing is, we're all alive. Thanks to a little quick thinking and a lot of luck.'

'I need a holiday,' Susan admitted. She looked over at Alan and winked. 'Getting married was a lot more work than I expected it to be!'

~!~!~!~


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N - Oh, what happens next??? You all still reading?  
_

CHAPTER TWELVE

Susan reached out and wrapped an arm around Alan's waist for support. The smile on his face quickly evaporated when he saw her eyes. 'What's wrong?'

'Too much activity, too fast. I need...' she cut off her sentence as she looked around. 'TARDIS, now.'

Sarah was at her other side in an instant, 'Come on Sue, let's get you back to bed, you've really overdone it.'

Sarah glanced over at the Doctor and he nodded. 'She needs the stability the TARDIS can give her. Get her inside, quickly.'

Harry turned to Luke, and then to Sarah. 'Sarah, stay with Sue. Luke and I will take your car and meet you back at your house.'

She looked back at the smoldering remains of his property. 'We need to figure out your situation too.'

'We will, don't worry. Sue's more important right now.'

Sarah and Alan quickly helped Susan inside the TARDIS. The Doctor watched them, then turned back to Harry. 'I'm so sorry about your house, Harry, but I am very glad you made it out alive. I would hate to think of the alternative.'

Harry smiled, but his eyes didn't leave the TARDIS doors. 'Me too, Doctor, me too.'

The Doctor continued. 'And thank you Brigadier. I'm glad to see Kreix taken care of, once and for all. I may have to pay a visit to the Gentaris home world though and wrap up some loose ends.'

'What are you thinking, Doctor?'

'Doesn't matter.' He looked back towards the TARDIS again. 'I'd better go make sure Sue is stablised.'

He started to walk towards the TARDIS, but Harry called after him. 'Doctor?'

'Yes?'

'Meet you at Sarah Jane's? I think there's a discussion we still need to have.'

Without a word, the Doctor nodded and entered the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. Harry, Luke and Sir Alistair watched as the TARDIS dematerialised.

Harry sighed deeply. 'I will be very glad when today is over.' He glanced back at his house, 'Although, it will never be the same, will it?'

Sir Alistair reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder supportively. 'Harry, our house has plenty of spare rooms now that the kids are grown and gone. Liz and I would be more than happy to have you stay with us until you can find another place.'

'Are you sure?'

'Positive. No argument.'

'Thank you, Sir, I would appreciate it.'

'Think nothing of it.' Sir Alistair looked around. 'I think I can safely leave these young lads to clean this up. You two better get back to Sarah Jane's and take care of Susan. And I'd better get home to Liz before she sends a patrol out after me for doing this.'

'Never one to incur the Wrath of Liz?'

Sir Alistair chuckled. 'The only thing more dangerous than an alien invasion is my wife when she's upset.'

~!~!~!~

Sarah walked back into the console room and looked over to where the Doctor was staring fixatedly at the console itself. 'Sue's asleep again. Alan stayed with her.'

'Good, good. I've set us to float in the vortex for a while. I'll still have us back at your house before Harry and Luke get there. I should've done this first. Sue really overdid it with the Gentaris. I told her she needed to rest, but she's stubborn and didn't listen.'

'She gets that honestly enough.'

The Doctor finally looked up, his dark eyes almost black. His voice was soft. 'I almost lost you today, Sarah.'

She shook her head. 'No you didn't.'

'I thought you were dead.'

She walked over to stand beside him. 'You didn't know we got out?'

'I had no idea Sue had even been able to reach you.'

'Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry.' She reached out and put a hand on his arm. 'If I could've let you know, I would have.'

The Doctor finally turned to face her, and then quickly wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. 'I've a great mind to lock you up in the TARDIS where I know you'll be safe.'

She laughed as he continued to hold her. 'I'd like to see you try.'

'I can see I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you, Sarah Jane Smith.'

'You sound like you have something in mind.'

'Yes.' He took her by the hand and led her from the console room. 'Put your mental barriers up, my Sarah Jane. I need to show you how worried I was about you.'

She looked up at him, surprised. 'Now?'

They stopped in the corridor as the Doctor turned to her, taking her face in his hands. 'Yes, now.' He leaned down and kissed her hungrily. After a moment, he pulled back to allow her to breathe, but continued to hold her tightly to him, kissing her forehead lightly.

Sarah ran her hands along the front of his shirt and smoothed down his tie. She kept her eyes closed and then reached up to trace the line of his jaw with her fingers, enjoying the feel of his skin.

The Doctor quickly turned and opened the nearest door, willing it to be the room he was looking for. He glanced back and smiled, then pulled Sarah into the room with him, closing the door after them. Pulling her back towards him, he began to trail kisses down towards the base of her neck.

She smiled as she tilted her head back to give him better access. As he kissed the sensitive area just below her ears, she grasped at his shirt as she felt her knees get weak. 'All right. Yes, now is good.'

~!~!~!~

Susan stirred and reached up and held her head. 'My head hurts,' she mumbled without opening her eyes.

'I'm not surprised,' Alan whispered as he reached out and pulled her close to him. 'You really need to get your rest, and I'm here to make sure you do.'

She opened one eye and gave him a small smile. 'I bet you are.' She reached up and put her hand against the wall. 'We're floating in the vortex. This is good.'

'What's good about it?' Alan asked.

'It means there's no plan and no agenda.' She snuggled back down into Alan's embrace. 'I love moments like this, even as few and far between as they are.'

'Now that the Gentaris are taken care of, do you think we'll be able to get back to something resembling our lives?'

'Oh yes.' She took a deep breath. 'And if my parents can get things straightened out, then life will be good.'

'Meaning Sarah Jane and Harry or the Doctor?'

Susan laughed. 'Ah, well, that's the question, isn't it? Mum cares for Dad, but she still loves the Doctor. As long as she's happy, I'm happy, but I happen to know that any relationship with the Doctor is going to be difficult.' She closed her eyes and let her head rest on Alan's chest. 'They'll have to figure things out themselves. I'd rather concentrate on us now though.'

Alan gave her a gentle squeeze and leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. 'I can certainly agree with that.'

~!~!~!~

Sarah woke up and still felt the Doctor's arms wrapped around her. She turned slightly, and glanced up at him, expecting him to wake up, but he didn't. Gently she extricated herself from the bed, wrapped herself in a robe from the closet and headed out of the room, but not before smiling as she took another long look at the Doctor's sleeping form.

Once she was in the hallway, she spoke softly, 'I need…' she reached up and put her hand along the wall. Feeling the response from the TARDIS, she smiled. 'Yes, that's it exactly.'

She made her way instinctively down through several of the corridors, knowing exactly where to turn. Finally, she stood in front of a closed door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and smiled. 'The Zero Room. Excellent place for quiet introspection.' She walked in and closed the door behind her, patting it lightly. 'Thank you, this is perfect.'

Sarah walked across the room and positioned herself flat on the floor of the furniture-less room. Folding her hands across her stomach, she closed her eyes and began her measured breathing. After a few moments, she began to float up, coming to rest about three feet from the floor.

~!~!~!~

Susan walked into the console room and was surprised to see the Doctor sitting in the jump seat just staring straight ahead. 'What's wrong?' she asked as she flopped into the seat beside him.

The Doctor continued to stare straight ahead. 'You could have told me.'

'And what, have you go in all Time Lord Victorious or something, no thank you. I had to let this play out my way.'

He turned to look at her. 'Susan.'

She matched his gaze. 'Doctor.'

'Do you know what it was like thinking that people I cared for had just died?'

She nodded slowly. 'Yes, that's why I couldn't tell you. I had no guarantee that Mum got Dad and Luke out in time. I just had to trust her, just like she had to trust me.'

He reached out and took her hand in his. 'You nearly died today, Sue. You're still feeling the ill effects of it, I can tell. You had no business confronting Kreix.'

'What would you have rather me done?'

'Let me do it for you.'

'You can't fight my battles for me, Doctor. Not this time. This was a situation that only I could deal with.'

'You and UNIT. The Brigadier showed up with the big guns.'

She shrugged. 'It's not like I called him. In fact, I don't even know how he knew about it. I guess Mum or Dad had to have called him. The important thing is that I don't have to worry about Kreix, but there will be more Gentaris wanting revenge. If what he says is true, I've probably just managed to anger the entire planet.'

The Doctor sighed. 'I actually am taking care of that. I've already reported the Gentaris to the Shadow Proclamation. I don't think you'll have to worry about them any more.'

Susan leaned into his shoulder. 'Thanks.' She closed her eyes for a moment. 'Mum getting some much needed R and R in the Zero Room?'

'Yep,' he answered, popping the P at the end of the word. 'She deserves some peace and quiet.'

'That she does.' Susan nodded and then promptly yawned. 'Speaking of getting some peace and quiet, I'd better head back myself. You gonna be all right?'

The Doctor nodded, then quickly wrapped an arm around Susan's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. 'Of course I will. Now get out of here, you need your rest.'

She stood up and threw him a mock salute. 'Yes, sir.' Smiling, she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Thank you, Doctor.' The Doctor only smiled in response and watched as she left the room.

~!~!~!~


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N - Some smaller conversations here - so much ground to cover!  
_

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Luke and Harry walked into Sarah's front door. A quick look indicated that they were the first ones there. Luke looked up at Harry, 'Why don't I go put the kettle on?'

Harry smiled, 'Sounds good, son.'

They walked into the kitchen and as Luke went about making tea, Harry looked out across the back garden, then sat down at the table and ran his hands across his face as he sighed. Luke glanced back at him and noted his expression. 'I'm really sorry about your house, Dad.'

Harry looked up at Luke and gave him a small smile. 'Well, ultimately, it's just a house. Possessions can be replaced, the important thing is that no one was hurt.'

Luke sat a mug of tea in front of Harry and took his own mug and sat down across from him. 'Sue is going to be OK, isn't she?'

'I'm sure she will be, but she wouldn't be if it wasn't for you. I'm sure, Luke, that with everything that's gone on that you think that Sarah or I have forgotten that it was you that realised how we could restart Sue's heart.'

'Well, the Doctor knew what settings needed to be used on both the sonic lipstick and the sonic screwdriver.'

'Yes, Luke, but I don't think even he would've thought about it without you. So Sue really does owe you her life.'

'She's my sister. I would do anything for her.'

Harry smiled. 'And I know that she feels the same way.'

'Our family is unique, isn't it?'

'Very much so.'

'Does it bother you that both Sue and I, even though we both consider you our father, aren't really related to you?'

Harry reached out and gave Luke's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. 'Luke, I learned a long time ago that family of choice was sometimes so much stronger than who you share your genetic structure with.'

Just then, the doorbell rang. Luke jumped up to answer it. After a minute, Harry heard voices from the foyer, so he knew it was someone Luke recognised. He smiled as he heard Luke call back, 'It's Uncle Alistair and Aunt Liz.' Drinking more of his tea, he stood up, walked the mug to the sink and headed out into the living room, pondering their extended family.

~!~!~!~

Alan walked into the console room and found the Doctor absently flipping switches and dials. The Doctor looked up at him. 'Ah, Alan, how are you making out with all of this?'

'I certainly never expected my wedding and honeymoon days to be spent watching Sue fight for her life and dealing with her own altered perception of what it means to be human.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Sue is unique. In the whole of the Universe, there's nothing like her. Half human, half Gallifreyan, with more Time Lord tendencies that she has any right to have. To some, that might make her dangerous.'

Alan smiled. 'To me, it makes her priceless. But she would be that anyway, Doctor.'

'Indeed.'

'I never thought I'd let anyone else into my life after Chrissie. I lived for Maria and just wanted her to have the best. I got wrapped up in my daughter and in my job. So much so that we moved to America. Sarah Jane introduced us to the Universe, and then the Universe turned around and brought Sue into our lives. I can't imagine my life now without her. Despite everything she's seen, everything she's been through, she is one of the most open and loving people I've ever met.'

'Well, that was all Sarah and Harry. I wasn't involved in her life when she was growing up.'

'She told me she met you once, the version of you that was her father, I mean, if that makes sense. That she got a chance to talk to you.'

The Doctor nodded. 'She did, three times actually. The first time she didn't know who I was. The second time was in Sarah's attic, and as for the third time, well, I don't know that it's happened for her yet.' Before Alan could comment, the Doctor continued. 'I treasure all of those conversations. Even though she travelled with me for five years, it meant a lot for that version of me to actually be able to interact with her.' The Doctor smiled broadly. 'I have an idea.' He spun around and began jumping around the console, flipping buttons and switches like an overexcited puppy.

'Doctor? What's going on?' Alan asked. 'What's your idea?'

'I'm taking you and Sue on a little trip. Consider it a wedding present!'

~!~!~!~

Sarah walked into the TARDIS kitchen to make a cup of tea and was surprised to see Susan already in there. 'Sue, I figured you'd be resting.'

Sue turned and glanced back at Sarah. 'I was, but I needed tea. How was the Zero Room?'

Sarah walked over and wrapped an arm around Susan's shoulder, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Very relaxing, thank you.' She looked at the dark circles under Susan's eyes and ran her hand soothingly across the back of Susan's head. 'You know, you should consider spending some time there. You still look tired.'

'I suppose I am. I feel like all I'm doing is sleeping, but I just don't feel like I'm stabilising.' Susan rested her hand on her chest and felt her hearts beating. 'I'm still not used to this whole double beat thing. It's weird.' She took a deep breath. 'I can't believe Dad never said anything. He's known this since I was seven.'

'It was never an issue before now.'

'It would've been nice to know though.'

Sarah took Susan's hand and led her to sit down at the table. 'Think about it, Sue. He never told you about the Doctor being your biological father. You found that out from the Doctor himself, and not until you were in your early 30's. You never told Harry that you knew until you got involved with Alan. It wasn't until that point that this whole thing came out into the open.'

'He could've said something then.' Susan sighed. 'It doesn't matter now, I suppose. I am what I am and I can't change it. I just wish I knew how this was going to impact things going forward.' She smiled, 'I suppose I could ask the Doctor to pop forward and tell me how my life is gonna end up.'

Sarah laughed. 'Right, and you can probably already hear him screaming about the timelines.'

Susan ran a hand over her eyes. 'I'm getting totally ridiculous at this point. Maybe I should go float around in the Zero Room and get my addled brain under control.' She looked up at Sarah, 'It seems to have done you a world of good.'

'Soothes both the body and mind. I really should've spent some time in there after we were on Trivid.'

'I remember the Doctor talking about going in there to help with post-regenerative trauma. This is somewhat similar I suppose.' She shook her head. 'There are times I wish I could just be a normal human.'

'Do you really mean that, Sue?'

'Well, no, not really. I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. When you see the Universe, your perception changes. You can't go back to what you used to know and think. Everything about you changes as you move forward. It defines you, shapes you and determines who you'll be going forward.' Susan took a deep breath. 'After all, Mum, you know that better than anyone.'

'Yes, but I didn't know the changes would be so literal.'

Susan took a sip of her tea. 'I certainly didn't expect it where I was concerned either.' She tilted her head to one side and listened.

Sarah quickly caught the expression on her face and knew something was up. 'What is it?'

'We're not floating in the vortex anymore. We're on our way somewhere.' She closed her eyes and concentrated. Quickly her eyes snapped open and she stood up. 'He wouldn't dare.' She looked at Sarah.

Sarah caught Susan's sent thought. 'Oh no.'

They both stood up and headed out of the room, but Sarah stopped and looked at Susan. 'What's wrong?'

Sarah reached out and put her hands on Susan's shoulders. 'You go to the Zero Room and stay there for a while. I'll take care of the Doctor.'

'Are you sure?'

'Sue, Sweetheart, I'm concerned. Your thoughts are a jumble, I can feel the questions. You need to take some time and rest. I don't just mean sleep. You can sleep for days and your mind won't settle.'

Susan's head dropped. 'You're right, Mum. I do have a lot on my mind.'

Sarah nodded. 'Yes, so go, let the Zero Room work its magic on you. I'll figure out what the Doctor is up to and stall it. All right?'

Susan reached out and hugged Sarah. 'Thanks, Mum.'

~!~!~!~

Sir Alistair took the cup of tea Harry offered. 'They're still not back yet?'

'No, but I would expect them any moment now.'

Sir Alistair laughed slightly. 'Sullivan, this is the Doctor we're talking about. They could show up any time now, or not for another five years.' His expression turned serious. 'Actually, there's something we need to discuss. I got a call from Susan's CO, a Brigadier Andrews. They're concerned about the way the situation with the Gentaris played out.'

'What are they saying?'

'They're going to desk her. That's if they go with the best-case scenario. They're all right with her being in America but they don't want her in command. The discussions are going on even has we speak. They want to promote her and allow her to work out her service. She's coming up on twenty years service and she'll be encouraged to retire at that point.'

Harry sighed. 'She's been a UNIT soldier since she was eighteen years old. This is going to crush her. Is it just because she's not quite human? I smell a rat in all of this.'

'UNIT has taken a very dim view on aliens since the whole business with the 456. Even the Doctor is treated differently than he would've been a couple of years ago. He still has some clout, but they're being overly cautious. Even he is suspect after his not so subtle role in the demise of Harriet Jones's government.'

'This is not good.'

'No, but I don't see that we have a choice at the moment. The atmosphere is too unstable.'

Nodding, Harry said, 'I understand. I just hate having to tell Sue.'

'That's part of the reason I'm here. I was tasked with breaking the news to her, both as a senior officer and as a family friend.'

~!~!~!~

Liz and Luke stood in Sarah Jane's attic. Luke was positively bursting with excitement. 'Mr. Smith, I need you.' As the computer blew its fanfare and wind and opened up, Liz turned to Luke. 'Mr. Smith has been helping me with an experiment. I've had him collecting data as it's been reported to the Tevatron and Large Hadron Colliders.'

'How may I help you, Luke?' Mr. Smith asked.

Liz looked at Luke and smiled. 'Where is your mind going, Luke?'

'Mr. Smith, display my calculations, please.' Liz turned back to Luke. 'You know how the Standard Model of particle physics predicts some violation of matter-antimatter symmetry, but not enough to explain how the Universe consists mostly of matter with barely a trace of antimatter.'

'Of course.'

'In analysing the latest results, I came up with an unbalanced ratio of matter to antimatter that goes beyond the imbalance predicted by the Standard Model. Specifically, I've found a four percent difference between pairs of muons and antimuons that arise from the decay of B mesons.'

Liz's eyes widened. 'Luke, that's incredible.' She looked at the calculations. 'No wait.' She pointed at one section of the screen. 'Double check that value there, Luke. It seems to me that the coefficient is off.'

Luke turned to Mr. Smith and held his finger up, drawing each line in the air as he completed and recalculated each line. 'Ah!' he exclaimed. 'If we change the variable here to just one off the standard coefficient, it stabilises the readings.' He quickly reached out and threw his arms around Liz. 'Aunt Liz, you're brilliant! It's just a one percent difference, but that is still enough to increase the matter over antimatter ratio.'

Liz hugged Luke tightly. 'Luke, it's you that's brilliant. This goes beyond what any of the current theories can explain, but it makes so much sense.' She looked over at Mr. Smith's display again. 'This will take some time to completely analyse all the data, but I think you're on the right track here. I want you to write up all you've been working on.'

Luke nodded quickly. 'Absolutely. I've already started working on it.' Luke then frowned. 'Aunt Liz, I'm worried.'

'About what?'

'I also pulled up Sue's medical records from when her second heart was discovered.' He turned towards Mr. Smith. 'Mr. Smith, display the x-rays and scans of Susan's that we were looking at earlier.'

'Of course, Luke,' he readily agreed and displayed the appropriate scans.

Liz looked at the scans and frowned. 'I'm no medical doctor, Luke.'

'No, but you know what this is showing,' Luke asserted.

Liz nodded slowly, a frown crossing her features. 'I do. Maybe when the Doctor returns with Sue, we'll be able to get a better answer than this.' She looked over at Luke, then reached out and squeezed his shoulder. 'Don't worry, Luke. Susan will be fine. She has a lot of resources at her disposal.'

~!~!~!~


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N - The birds are chirping here as the sun sets on a beautiful Sunday. As the day ends, so too, does this story start approaching its final pieces. My gut reaction is that there isn't too much more. For this chapter, let me only say in the words of Ten - I'm sorry, so so sorry.  
_

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

'Luke, you have an incoming call from Susan's mobile,' Mr. Smith alerted.

'Put it through, Mr. Smith,' Luke said. Liz and Luke both waited to hear who was on the other end.

'Luke, it's me,' Sue said softly. 'Listen, I finally am doing what I should've done several hours ago. I'm looking at my medical records and comparing them to earlier scans.'

'I've seen them, Sue. I think we're looking at the same thing.'

'Is anyone there with you?' Sue asked.

'Just Aunt Liz.'

'Right. Luke, this is what I want you to do. Mum keeps a lockbox in the closet in the back corner of the attic.'

'Sue, that's alien tech that she says is too dangerous to be unprotected and I'm not supposed to ever go near it.'

Susan took a deep breath. 'I know, Luke. Since Aunt Liz is there with you, she can make sure you're all right, but there's a piece of tech in there that I need you to get Mr. Smith to scan. If you open the lockbox, there should be a small round cylindrical object. It comes from the Sefendran Spiral. Make sure you put on protective gloves before you touch it. It has a pulsing electrical current running through it.'

Liz finally spoke up. 'Susan, isn't there another way?'

'I'm never going to get stablised if I let things go the way they're going. The human body is made up of electrical currents as you know. Right now, mine are completely out of sync. It's like having part of my system on 220 and another on 110. They're not speaking to each other and causing all sorts of damage. If I don't fix this, at least one of my hearts is going to give out and the other is too weak to support my systems.' Susan finally paused and inhaled. 'I've been slowly dying, Aunt Liz, since they restarted my hearts, and no one has realised it. My only solution is to have Mr. Smith read the electrical impulses coming from that object, transfer it here to the TARDIS and hopefully I can rig up something to knock myself to one pattern or another. I've traced the source of the second electrical pattern, and it's my heart. My second heart to be precise.'

'This is bloody dangerous, and you know it.' Liz frowned. 'What about the Doctor, or Harry? Could you get them to work on this with you? Why are you doing this on your own?' She frowned as she could hear Susan's breathing increase. 'Sue, talk to me, what's going on?'

'I have at maximum six hours left, based on my calculations, but I'll probably lose consciousness long before then. The blood pumping through my system is altering as it goes through that second heart. If I don't get my hearts processing the same current, well, let's just say it's not going to be one of my better days.'

Luke walked back with the cylindrical object held tightly between his gloved hands. 'Mr. Smith, scan this for me, and transfer all results to Susan in the TARDIS.'

'Of course, Luke. This may take a few minutes,' Mr. Smith commented, devoid of emotion, despite the charged atmosphere in the room.'

Luke looked over at Liz as Susan coughed before speaking. 'Mr. Smith, do me a favour. I'm also sending you an up to the moment scan of me. Would you display these readings, please?'

As Mr. Smith displayed Susan's scans, Liz pointed at her mobile, then pointed out the attic door. Luke nodded as Liz stepped out on the landing.

~!~!~!~

Harry and Sir Alistair both jumped as they heard Liz calling from the landing outside the attic. Standing up quickly, Harry turned back to Sir Alistair, who was still pulling himself up. 'Why don't you stay here, Sir?'

'Like hell, Sullivan. With that tone in Liz's voice, there's no way I'm not responding. I may be older, but I'm not dead. Go on ahead, I'll catch up.'

Harry bounded up the stairs two at a time, but even in the good shape he was in, he was still out of breath when he reached the top. He looked at Liz even as she was waiting for her mobile to connect to the person she was trying to reach. 'Does Sarah's phone have Universal roaming?'

'What?'

'Can we reach her while she's on the TARDIS?'

'I would assume so, if not, I'm sure Mr. Smith could connect us.'

'He's a little tied up at the moment. Harry, we need you, we need your medical opinion.'

'Liz, what's wrong, you're scaring me.'

'Quite frankly, I'm scared.' She gestured back towards the attic. 'Get in there, I'm going to keep trying to reach Sarah.' Harry headed towards the attic just as Liz finally connected with Sarah. 'Sarah, I don't know where you are in the TARDIS, but Susan is in sickbay, things aren't good. You'd better get to her and get the Doctor to get back here now.'

Luke quickly stuck his head outside, nearly running into Harry and glanced up at both he and Liz. 'She's lost consciousness.'

~!~!~!~

The Doctor frowned as he looked at the console. 'Change of plans,' he said suddenly, switching several levers. 'We have a problem.' He turned to Alan, 'Something's wrong, we need to find Sue.'

Alan stood up and followed the Doctor. 'Where are we going?'

The Doctor stopped and looked Alan squarely in the eyes. 'Sickbay.'

Just as they started heading down the corridor, Sarah came running from the other direction, a worried look on her face. 'Susan,' was all she said before the Doctor spun her around and they all three ran for the sickbay.

The Doctor swung the sickbay door open and they all instantly saw Susan on the floor. He was at her side in two steps, picking her up and swinging her up onto the bed. Sarah went over to the monitors and looked at the two displays. One displayed Susan's medical scans, and the other was a display into the attic where Sarah could see Luke, Liz, Harry and Sir Alistair on the screen.

'Mum, we've got a plan. Sue's hearts are sending out different electrical currents. We have what we think is a solution, but it'll need to be started quickly and sustained.'

Liz stepped up to stand beside Luke, 'Sarah, it's dangerous, but it's the only thing we can think will solve the problem for good.'

Harry stood behind them. 'From a medical perspective, it's the best solution. However, there may be side effects.'

The Doctor ran up and stood behind Sarah. 'We should be landing there soon, but we need to get started. Unfortunately, we'll have to just deal with any side effects once we're sure she's stablised.' He reached out and made a few adjustments, then walked over to affix a series of sensors on to Susan's head and upper chest.

In the attic, Harry reached out and put an arm protectively around Luke's shoulders as in the TARDIS, Alan walked over and stood beside Sarah.

Once the sensors were all in place, the Doctor looked at the assembled group in Sarah's attic, then looked at Sarah and Alan. 'Allons-y,' he said softly before throwing a switch and watching as Susan's body began to spasm.

~!~!~!~

A figure stood on the edge of the cemetery and frowned at the weather. 'It would be raining.' She looked as a man walked up and stood next to her. 'Why are we here?'

'Because we have to be.'

She looked up at him, discomfort etched on her features. 'No, we don't. Do you think I really want to see anyone going through that?'

He pointed at the couple standing shoulder-to-shoulder, hands entwined, and a tall teenager standing nearby. 'Sarah and Harry are completely heartbroken. Look at Luke, shattered because he feels that it's his fault that he couldn't save his sister.' He gestured to another man standing near the grave, with a teenage girl standing somberly next to him. 'And poor Alan, having finally opened himself up to love again, only to lose it again so quickly. Even his daughter Maria loved Susan, and knows what Susan meant to her father.'

'This is morbid, Doctor.'

'We're not the only ones watching in secret, I might add.' When the woman looked up at him, he continued. 'Look behind that tree on the right.'

She laughed slightly. 'How long is that scarf?'

'About sixteen feet.' He pointed towards the other side of the cemetery. 'And look over there.'

'Nice question mark jumper.'

'Thank you, I rather liked it at the time.'

'Why aren't you with the family? Why are you watching from back here?'

'Because I'm there, next to Sarah. Tall, spiky hair.' The Doctor glanced back at his companion and continued when she nodded. 'It's safer back here, I won't run into myself.'

She sighed. 'Not to rush the matter, Doctor. Obviously this is very important for you. But how long does all this go on?'

The Doctor looked at her. 'You can end it right now if you want to.'

'How?'

He smiled sadly. 'It's in your hands, it's always been in your hands.'

The woman took a deep breath and put a hand on her chest. 'I guess there's no time like the present is there?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No, I'm afraid this might be as good a time as you have.'

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. 'Goodbye, Doctor.'

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for a moment before watching her walk away. Softly, he called after her. 'Until next time, Susan.'

After having walked some distance away, Susan turned and looked at him, a sad smile crossing her features before she gave him a small wave.

~!~!~!~


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N - I think we're really headed toward the end now...when we last left off, we saw Susan's funeral. Or did we?  
_

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The sickbay of the TARDIS looked like Victoria Station at the evening rush. Susan's body was encased in a glasslike tube. Sarah and the Doctor stood on one side, Harry and Luke on the other, with Alan standing near the top end of it. Liz and Alistair stood looking over the monitors nearby.

Sarah put her hands up on the glass, tracing the outline of Susan's face. Tears streaked down her cheeks. 'How long does she have to stay like this?'

'It's up to her really,' the Doctor admitted. 'We've done all we can.'

Alan stared at the tube. 'What exactly is going on here, can one of you finally explain?'

'With the information we got from Luke and Mr. Smith, we were able to send an electrical charge through Sue's hearts. Problem is, we almost have to keep it going until all her systems are back online.'

'You make it sound like she's a computer,' Alan admitted.

'Well then, just think of this as a reboot.' The Doctor looked down at the glass tube. 'Mind you, she's going through her own personal hell at the moment. She'll be experiencing all sorts of nasty hallucinations.'

From the other side of the glass enclosure, Luke hovered his hands over the sides of the tube. 'I've been over it several times, and I can't think of a way to stop or even decrease the hallucinations.'

Harry put a hand on Luke's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, 'It's all right, Luke, she's alive, that's all that matters. We'll just have to deal with the emotional repercussions once she's out of danger.'

'Is she still in danger?' Sarah asked.

The Doctor nodded. 'Unfortunately, yes, to some extent. We're essentially still bombarding her with electrical charges. I'm trying to keep it at a level that hopefully won't do any damage to her other organs or tissues, but it's like being slowly electrocuted. Each time she approaches consciousness, another charge knocks her back out.'

'I can't feel her,' Sarah tapped her temple, 'in here.'

Slipping an arm around Sarah's shoulders, the Doctor frowned and spoke very softly. 'You don't want to right now, Sarah. Trust me.'

Sarah turned to look up at him. 'You're blocking it, aren't you?'

'Yes.'

'You can still feel her.'

The Doctor nodded, 'I'm also projecting to her ever so slightly. In each of her hallucinations, she will know I'm there, although I don't know what form I take. I can't see what she's seeing, I can only feel her emotions.' He took a deep breath. 'Her last one left her scared and extremely sad.'

As Alistair gently squeezed her shoulder, Liz refocused on the monitor in front of her. She called out. 'Her readings are spiking again, Doctor.'

'Let's see what happens this time.'

~!~!~!~

The air felt thin as Susan came to. Susan looked around, trying to figure out where she was. It was dark and the gravity seemed artificial in nature. She stood up quickly and tilted her head to the side ever so slightly, straining to listen to anything that seemed unusual. She made her way across the room to what passed for a door. She felt around with her hands, the lack of light making it impossible to see anything clearly. She gasped as her hands hit another person.

'Shhh, Sue, you'll give us away,' a familiar voice whispered.

'Doctor!' she exclaimed at a whisper. 'Where the hell are we?'

'Where do you think?' he responded.

'If I knew, I wouldn't ask. Seems like a space station. The air's a bit stale, a bit low on oxygen.' Susan got quiet for a moment and put her ear to the door. 'Something's moving outside, a machine or something mechanical.'

The Doctor reached out and pulled Susan several steps back. 'Best to step away from the door.'

The door flew open and in the blinding light, Susan could only make out a vague shape. The voice, however, was unmistakeable and sent terror running down her spine. As the beam of energy seared through her, tearing her atoms apart, she last thing she heard was the echoing voice. 'EX-TERM-I-NATE!'

~!~!~!~

The Doctor breathed heavily and put his hand on top of the cylindrical tube. He turned back to Liz. 'How are her readings?' he asked, putting a hand against his chest as if to calm his rapidly beating hearts.

'Respiration and heart rates are all a bit high, but seem to be normalising,' Liz responded.

Sarah looked over at the Doctor and saw the pain etched there. 'What was it?' she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

The Doctor frowned. 'Daleks.' He stepped over to stand behind Liz and look at the readings.

'The brainwave activity seems to be nearing something akin to normal,' Liz noted, pointing at a section of the screen.

Luke ran over to look at the readings as well. 'Yes, and the currents from both of her hearts seem to be synchronised, although the measurements are still oscillating just a bit.'

Harry and Sarah exchanged relieved glances without saying anything.

Alan stared at Susan's facial features, a frown etched on his, then he began to relax. 'Doctor, she seems to be waking up.'

Everyone crowded back around the tube as Susan's eyes fluttered open. She took in the tube, and the number of eager faces looking down at her. 'Looks like a party,' she said weakly. 'What did I miss?' She reached up tentatively and touched the glass. 'And can I come out of this thing? I'm not claustrophobic, but it's a little tight in here.'

The Doctor went and double checked the readings, then flipped a few switches and the tube split along its length and folded underneath the bed itself. 'Don't move yet, Sue and no one else touch her. I want to double check a couple of things.'

'Well, anything I go through now is going to be a walk in the park compared to what I've experienced.'

'What did you see, Sue?' Luke asked.

'All right,' the Doctor said loudly. 'I'm going to usher everyone out of here, except Alan. You can go back to the attic, or wander around the TARDIS, it doesn't matter. Sue here has gone through quite the ordeal and I need to make sure that things are stablised.' He turned and saw five pairs of very unhappy eyes. 'Ah, yes, well…'

Luke was finally the one to speak. 'Doctor, it's not that we don't trust you, but Sue was with you here in the TARDIS when she got as bad as she did. It was Sue herself, Aunt Liz and I that really helped figure out what was going on.'

The Doctor glared at him in silence.

Sarah walked up and stood next to Luke and wrapped an arm protectively around his shoulders. 'Doctor, I think we would all feel reassured just staying here in the room.'

Harry crossed his arms. 'I'm not going anywhere, Doctor.'

'Well, if you insist.' He walked over towards Susan and ran a small scanner over her. 'The electrical currents have dissipated.'

'Good, can I sit up now?' Susan asked.

'Slowly,' the Doctor said softly as he reached out and helped her to sit up.

Susan looked around at all of her family assembled in the room. 'Is this another illusion, or is this real?' she asked softly.

Alan looked at the Doctor, and at his slight nod, he moved to sit down beside her, reaching out and gently wrapping his arms around Susan. 'It's real, Sue. You're going to be all right.'

Susan reached up and touched Alan's face. 'Oh please God let this be really real.'

Alan ever so gently leaned in and kissed her, then whispered in her ear, causing her to blush.

Susan took a deep breath and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself into a standing position. As she did, both Sarah and Harry came to stand in front of her, concern etched on their faces. Susan concentrated on her feet as a brief wave of dizziness passed over her. When it passed, she looked up at Sarah and Harry and smiled.

At Susan's smile, Sarah quickly hugged her, while Harry stepped forward and wrapped his arms around them both, holding them tightly. The Doctor turned away and walked towards where Liz and Sir Alistair were standing near the monitors. They both were smiling broadly, a sense of relief palpable in the air. The Doctor gave them a small smile before turning towards the monitors and staring intently at them.

Susan reached out for Luke and pulled him into their family group hug. 'Luke, I wouldn't be here without you. Thank you.' Luke smiled awkwardly as Harry ruffled his hair and Sarah kissed his cheek.

'I'm just glad you're ok, Sue. That's what's important.'

From his position still at the monitors, the Doctor looked on uncomfortably at the family reunion. Sir Alistair didn't miss his expression, and leaned in to whisper, 'They need this, Doctor. Just for this one moment.'

The Doctor only nodded in reply, then turned and smiled at Sir Alistair.

Liz reached out and put a hand on the Doctor's arm, peering around him to look at the monitors. 'Her readings have all stabilised, yes?'

'Yes, but Sue will need some time in the Zero Room just to make sure.'

'Good, I was concerned there for a while.'

'Me too.' He clapped his hands together loudly and began to rub them together. The loud noise caught everyone's attention. 'All right everyone, Doctor's orders. It's been a very long 36 hours for each of you. My recommendation is that all you need to get some sleep. Sue, given what you just experienced, you need to spend a good six to eight hours in the Zero Room. Now, everyone else, if you'd like to stay close by, I can find a place in the TARDIS for each of you to sleep.'

Everyone looked around, waiting to see who was going to speak up first. Sir Alistair looked at Liz, then cleared his throat. 'Actually, Doctor, now that we're sure that young Susan is all right, I think Liz and I should make our way back home.'

Susan walked over slowly and gave them each a quick hug. 'Thank you both for everything.'

Sir Alistair put a hand on her shoulder. 'Think nothing of it. You get the rest you need, Sue, but then come to see me before you go back to work, all right?'

Susan nodded, 'Sure. That's going to be a rather tricky situation, isn't it?'

'Possibly, but don't worry about that now. I'll do everything in my power to make sure it all goes smoothly.'

Liz spoke up, 'The important thing Sue is that you get plenty of rest. We can't have any more of those phone calls, understand?'

Susan smiled and gave her another hug. 'Yes, Ma'am.'

Liz turned to Harry. 'Don't forget, Harry, that offer of a place to stay still stands.'

Harry smiled, 'Yes, actually, I think I'll take you up on that. I'm going to need to get things together and start finding a new place to live.'

Susan looked over at Harry and frowned, 'Can I have a quick chat with you, Dad?'

Sir Alistair and Liz both turned to the Doctor. 'Doctor, if you would be so kind as to remind us the of the easiest way out?' Sir Alistair noted.

For once, the Doctor caught the hint. 'Ah yes, right this way. The rest of you can come too and we can find you all a place to get a good night's sleep.' The Doctor led Sir Alistair and Liz out of the room. Luke and Alan began to follow, but Sarah held back a moment, glancing at Harry and Susan before continuing out.

'What's wrong, Sue?' Harry asked.

'I was about to ask you the same question.'

Harry reached up and cupped Susan's cheek with his hand. 'Nothing's wrong. In fact, I am beyond words of happiness at the moment. You're alive, that's the most important thing.'

Susan smiled, but took a step back and crossed her arms. Harry had to stifle a laugh at how much like Sarah she looked at that exact moment. 'So why are you rushing off?'

'Sue, sweetheart, you need your rest. You have to spend several hours in this Zero Room thing of the Doctor's. It makes as much sense for me to go with the Brig and Liz as it does to stay here. Besides, your husband is here.' Harry smiled, 'As much as I hate to admit it, you're not my little girl anymore.'

'Are you saying you don't…'

Harry realised where her train of thought was going. He reached out and took her hands in his. 'No, I'm not saying that at all. No matter what's happened, no matter what does happen in the future, you will always be my daughter. I'm just saying you're grown up now with a husband who loves you. It's best for your old Dad to make sure his own life is in order now.'

Susan took a deep breath, obviously relieved. 'Don't scare me like that, my hearts can't take it.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Not even funny, Sue.'

'No, it isn't. I'll get my brain around all of this one day.'

'Take your time. Your life has changed so much in the past couple of days. It'll take some time to take it all in. Don't rush it, and don't push yourself. Just take the time you need. We're all here for you.' He wrapped Susan in a warm hug.

'Thanks, Dad,' she said softly.

~!~!~!~


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N - Sorry that this one is a little short - I have a treat coming up in the next chapter and I didn't want to rush it! :)  
_

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Doctor walked back into the console room from the inner door and walked over and dropped onto the jump seat next to Sarah. She sat watching the console rotor moving up and down. He reached out and took her hand in his. 'Well, Luke seems thrilled with his room right next to the entomology lab. Susan is resting comfortably in the Zero Room, and I set Alan up in the room across the hall from the Zero Room. Which means, next time we go to check on Sue, Alan will be either in the Zero Room with her, or peering through the door, waiting for her to wake up.'

Sarah smiled. 'He loves her, quite right too.' She looked at their joined hands and then looked up at the Doctor. 'You make everything that's happened these past few days seem so normal.' Sarah took a deep breath, letting everything sink in.

The Doctor squeezed her hand. 'I'm sorry, Sarah. Force of habit, I guess.'

'Self defence mechanism is more like it,' she mumbled

He turned to her, 'What?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing.' With her free hand, she pointed towards the moving time rotor. 'So, where are we going?'

'Well, I can't tell you, not really.' He looked over and could see her eyes getting heavier. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 'Sarah, I meant what I said earlier, you need to get your sleep. It's been a very long few days, and I can tell you're exhausted.'

'No, I'm fine,' she said unconvincingly, even as she failed to stifle a yawn and her head dropped onto his shoulder.

The Doctor stood up and pulled Sarah to stand alongside him. 'That's it, Miss Smith, you are going to bed right now, no arguments. Understand?' When Sarah nodded, the Doctor reached out and pulled her to him tightly, holding her as if his life depended on it.

After a minute, the Doctor finally released her and but Sarah took only a couple of steps back, but made no move to go anywhere else. 'What if I were to refuse?'

The Doctor quickly closed the distance between them. 'I would march you down those hallways myself.' Sarah raised an eyebrow and shot a thought in his direction. He laughed heartily and turned her by her shoulders to face the interior door. Leaving his hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed her in front of him down the hallways, both of them laughing.

As they walked through the corridors, they passed the hallway for the Zero Room. The Doctor motioned for Sarah to look. Sarah glanced down to see Alan pacing the hallway outside of the Zero Room, a look of concern etched on his face. Sarah stepped away from the Doctor and headed towards Alan. 'Alan, what's wrong?'

The Doctor added, 'I figured you'd be trying to get some sleep while Sue was rejuvenating.'

'Well, I tried, but I'm worried. This is really going to do the trick, is it?'

'You mean her time in the Zero Room?' the Doctor asked.

Alan peered through the small window into the Zero Room. 'Is it safe?'

'For her or for you?' the Doctor asked before smiling. 'You're itching to go in there with her, aren't you?'

'I don't want to interrupt her, but I don't want to be on this side of the door when she wakes up either.'

Sarah went up and put a hand on Alan's arm. 'I know how you feel, Alan. She's had a very rough go, and it's only natural…'

The Doctor cut her off, 'Go on inside.'

'What?' Alan asked. 'I can do that? Will it effect her?'

'Only in a good way. She'll love it.' He nodded towards the door. 'Now, go on.'

Sarah and the Doctor watched as Alan gave them both a smile, and then went inside the Zero Room. The Doctor turned back to Sarah. 'He'll feel better now.'

Sarah looped an arm through his as they began walking back down the hallway. 'Remember the first time you took me in there?' Sarah asked.

The Doctor smiled, 'I do. Right after our visit to Karn. You caught on very quickly, I might add.' He laughed. 'In fact, you were so relaxed, you didn't even wake up when I carried you out of the room and put you in a proper bed.'

Sarah leaned in towards him, 'You tucked me in all right.' She laughed at the look of shock that crossed his face.

'I told you, that bed was more comfortable. I couldn't very well hold you while we were floating in midair. Or at least not while you were sleeping.'

'You did manage later though.'

The Doctor tilted his head to one side, a large smile crossing his features. 'Oh yes, I remember that quite well.' He reached out and swung open the nearby door. 'Here we are then.'

As they walked into the room, Sarah looked up at him. 'It probably doesn't help my cause to say that I'm really not terribly sleepy at the moment.'

The Doctor closed the door behind them and turned towards Sarah. 'Not at all. You're going to sleep, Sarah.' He reached up and held her face in her hands, gently running his fingers along her cheek. She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of his touch. She didn't realise until it was too late that he'd reached up and touched her temple. 'Sleep, Sarah,' he said softly and caught her as she fell. 'I'll be here when you wake up.'

~!~!~!~

Susan opened her eyes and turned her head to one side. Alan was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. 'Hi,' she said softly, a smile crossing her features.

He pointed slightly in her direction. 'How do you do that?'

'Do what?'

'You're floating in midair.'

Susan looked down and smiled again. 'Oh that.' She swung her feet down and stood up. She walked over to Alan and took his hand. 'It's easy when you think about it. The TARDIS helps.' She noticed the look of wariness on Alan's face. She leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. 'C'mon, it's not that bad is it?'

Alan wrapped his arms around her. 'I just want to hold you. I came so close to losing you, and I'm afraid to let you out of my sight.'

The height difference between them was enough for Susan to rest her head comfortably against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist. 'I'm sorry. I'm really sorry that I put you all through that. I should've realised much earlier on.'

'It's not your fault, I'm not blaming you,' he said as he kissed the top of her head. He closed his eyes, pulled her tighter and buried his face in her hair.

Susan took a deep breath. 'I need you, Alan. I can't do this without you. I love you.'

'Oh, Sue, I love you too. So much I can't see straight sometimes.'

Susan pulled her head back enough to look into his eyes. 'Look around,' she whispered, a wicked gleam crossing her features.

Alan looked around him, and with the white featureless walls, it took him a moment to realise that they had turned and were floating horizontally about three feet off the floor. 'How?' he asked.

'I told you it was easy. Sometimes you have to concentrate and control your breathing, and other times, you just let the TARDIS do it for you. That's what she's done now.'

He held Susan tighter, and she instinctively tightened her arms around him. 'Don't let go,' he said, a note of uncertainty in his voice.

'Never, not for as long as I live.'

They lost track of time as they floated together, arms wrapped around each other, finally getting the rest they both deserved.

~!~!~!~


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N - This is well...pure indulgence on my part...  
_

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Alan woke up as he felt Susan stiffen in his embrace. 'What's wrong,' he said softly.

She motioned her head towards a corner of the room. 'We're not alone.' She guided them both from their floating position towards the floor, then they both scrambled to stand. She looked at the figure standing in front of her. 'This can't be right. Am I hallucinating again?' she asked nervously.

'If so, we both are.' Alan looked from the man to Susan and back again. 'Who are you?'

Susan ran a hand across her eyes as she looked at the figure. The bulging blue eyes and the toothy smile were the same as she remembered from that day in Sarah's attic, but the man in front of her was much, much older. The wildly curly hair was now all white and more closely cropped, and he had definitely added some weight. 'Is it you?' she asked tentatively.

'Hello Sue,' he said with a smile.

Alan felt Susan's hand tightly wrap around his. He saw the look of apprehension on her face. 'Sue?'

'Alan, I don't know how or why, but this is the Doctor. Well, a version of him anyway. Mum's original version, no, her second version, but the main one. My father.'

The Doctor turned to Alan. 'I'm sure you're a very nice young man, but I wonder if you could excuse us for a moment. I need to talk to Susan and I'd rather we didn't have an audience.'

Alan turned to Susan. She nodded. 'It's all right, Alan. I'll fill you in on all the details.'

He quickly kissed her on the cheek. 'I'll be just across the hall if you need me.' Alan walked towards the door and just before leaving, he turned and looked at Susan. She gave him a smile in return, but he also saw her take a deep breath and focus on the Doctor. 'Just,' he pointed out the door, 'over here.'

'Thank you,' Susan responded with a genuine smile as Alan left and shut the door behind him. She turned her full attention to the Doctor. 'Given that we're in the Zero Room, are you real or an illusion?'

'I'm as real as you want me to be.'

Susan frowned. 'What does that mean?'

'Obviously, the TARDIS felt that we needed to talk.'

'Why?'

'Search for it, Sue. The answer's in you.'

She rolled her eyes. 'That is such existential nonsense.'

The old Doctor nodded and smiled. 'That's true, that's very true. I'm actually here for a reason. The TARDIS was programmed to show me to you if certain conditions applied in your life.' He took a deep breath. 'Apparently, you have two hearts, which makes you more Time Lord, or more specifically Gallifreyan than human, so there are certain things you need to expect.'

'OK. I have another question first. Why do you look the way you do? You don't look the way I remember having last seen you, and it's not been that long.'

He laughed heartily, 'I can imagine your mother asking the same question. The TARDIS knew that I should be the one to talk to you, so this is her approximation of what I will look like in your relative time if I wasn't to regenerate.'

'This version of you, because you're my biological father?'

'Yes. Consider me an authority figure.' He was completely straight faced, which caused Susan to laugh.

Another figure shimmered into existence next to the Doctor. It was Sarah, but as she looked currently. 'Hello Sue.'

'Mum.' Susan looked at the two of them before focusing on Sarah. 'Did the TARDIS approximate your looks too? If so, she did a great job.'

Sarah nodded. 'If she hasn't seen me recently to get a current bioprint, then yes.' Susan watched as the Doctor wrapped an arm around Sarah's waist as she continued to speak. 'Susan, I don't know what role that either of us play in your life, but we left this program in the Zero Room with the thought that if you needed to come in here, you'd probably had a very traumatic few days.'

Susan gave a shrug, 'I suppose you could say that. I nearly died, on my wedding day even.'

'We knew that we needed to talk to you, as your parents, to give you an idea of what the future might hold for you,' the Doctor said.

'Isn't that a bit like spoilers? I've never known either of you to be very keen on spoilers.'

'No, no spoilers here.' Sarah shook her head. 'Just think of this as a friendly piece of parental advice.'

The Doctor nodded in agreement. 'It's important for you to know that no matter how life has treated you, or what your situation is, that we both love you very much. I don't know whether the Universe has been kind enough to let us stay in contact, or whether we've not seen each other in years. You're a product of love, Susan. Never forget that, or that if we'd been able, we would have kept you with us.'

'I guess I should be comforted by knowing that the two of you are really just down the hall.' Susan tilted her head and looked at the Doctor, then took a deep breath. 'So, what was it I needed to know?'

Sarah started, 'With two hearts, there are obviously certain things you'll have to watch out for. Human doctors for a start. The only person we would instinctively trust is Harry. And aspirin, stay away from aspirin.'

The Doctor looked like he was going to add something, but Susan interrupted before he could. 'Wait a minute. Go back to that statement about keeping me with you.' She pointed at the Doctor. 'When you left Sarah on Earth, she didn't know she was pregnant.'

The Sarah figure disappeared, leaving just Susan and the older Doctor standing there. 'True,' he said softly, staring down at the floor. 'I just thought that there were certain things that sounded better coming from your mother.'

'So you wrote this program on your own.' She crossed her arms. 'To what end? And how do you know what my name is?'

'I always intended to come back for Sarah. She was carrying my child, after all. But things came up.'

Susan nodded, 'The matrix on Gallifrey, I know.'

'That's how I knew your name. I saw you in the Matrix and knew instinctively that you were my daughter. I came directly here and wrote this into a buried subroutine in the TARDIS's databank. I never expected it to fire off.'

'And yet, here we are.' Susan pondered for a minute. 'So it was my double heartbeat that started your program running.' The Doctor nodded in response. 'Well, that explains why I never saw it before. Now, let me ask you this. How is this interactive?'

'I'd like to think that you'd ask the questions that I would ask or that I can imagine Sarah asking. I've programmed all the possible questions that I could think of so that we could have a more interactive discussion.'

Susan ran a hand through her hair. 'This is weird. If we needed to have this conversation, why wouldn't you just talk to me, instead of writing a program to do it? You've talked to me about so many things, what's different about this?'

'I have no idea what's happened to me in the time since I set up this program. Obviously, either I've forgotten about it, or find the content still valid.'

'Or the subject matter is just too uncomfortable for you. You like talking but there are certain topics you are completely uncomfortable with. Especially anything doing with emotions.'

'True. Those have never been my strong suit.'

She walked around the Doctor, looking up at him and memorising his features. 'I must say, this is a pretty lifelike projection.'

The Doctor reached out and touched her arm, causing her to jump. 'It's more than a projection, Sue. For the moment, I am as solid as if I were right there actually standing in front of you.'

'Given how painfully thin your current incarnation is, you're definitely more solid than him,' she quipped. 'I have to admit, when I saw you in Mum's attic that day, I thought you were certainly larger than life. She'd told me stories, but nothing quite compared.'

'Ah, well, remember how you told me to forget that meeting? I did, but only temporarily. This part of the program I added after that meeting. I needed to save that memory somewhere. I didn't want to lose it forever. Once our timelines synch up properly, whatever incarnation of me that winds up being will remember it, but not until then.'

'Our timelines have already synchronised.' Susan took a deep breath. 'So, you made this program after you saw me in the Matrix. And then you added to it after we met in Mum's attic. You're holding back on something. What haven't you said yet?'

The Doctor took his own deep breath before continuing. 'When I saw you in the Matrix, I was given a choice.'

'As I understood it, you didn't come back because it protected your past. Everything leading to us fighting in the war on Trivid, my influence there and what it meant to your granddaughter. At least that's what I understood.'

'That's all true, but I did have a choice, Sue. I chose to protect my past. It was one of two alternatives. I could protect my past and lose a future with Sarah and you, or go back and life the live I always wanted, yet destroy my past in the process.'

'What would've happened, to your past, I mean?'

'It's possible that every event that led up to my meeting Sarah would've been altered or even eliminated. You two would've been with me, but most likely neither Sarah nor I would've known exactly why. We'd have two sets of memories vying for superiority. The human mind would have trouble processing it, potentially causing serious injury to Sarah and possibly you as well. I couldn't risk that. I couldn't be that selfish.' The Doctor reached out and put a hand on Susan's cheek. 'A huge part of me wanted to be that selfish, so much so that I ached for it. The relationship I'd carved out with Sarah was unlike anything I'd experienced before. The idea of creating a family with her, well, let's just say it had an appeal that I've never quite gotten past.'

Susan nodded. 'The idea of family has always been something I've struggled with to some extent. Finding my way through the half truths and trying to figure out who I am and where I fit in.'

'I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you as you were growing up, Sue.'

She shrugged, 'It is what it is, Doctor.' She looked at him, truly looking into his eyes. 'There's more you want to say.'

'I wanted to tell you about Gallifrey, about me, my feelings towards your mother, things I would never be comfortable discussing in person.'

'You've told me a lot about Gallifrey.'

'Then I've probably mentioned how stubborn Gallifrey is as a society. If you run into any other Time Lords, it's best to keep quiet about who you are. Outsiders are looked down on, and as my daughter, you'll be considered an outcast. Don't take it personally, I'm not exactly a favoured son.'

'But Gallifrey is gone, Doctor.'

He frowned. 'I'm not sure I can fathom that possibility.'

'Aha, I just found the fault in your program.'

'Perhaps.' He was quiet for a moment, then continued. 'I'm considered an exile, a renegade. Mostly because I hate their whole non-interference policy. When we have the knowledge and the ability to make a change, we should do our best, as long as it doesn't adversely impact the native societies.'

Susan laughed. 'Like the Star Trek Prime Directive?'

'Something like that. The problem with the Time Lords is that they don't want anyone interfering, but then they turn around and do it themselves.' A look of disgust crossed his features. 'They've sent your mother and I to more places because there were situations that needed taking care of, but they weren't willing to get their hands dirty.'

'I can understand how frustrating that is. I get that way with UNIT. They want things done, but aren't willing to do it themselves.'

'I keep complaining, but you know what surprises me? Sarah was shot at, hypnotised, irradiated, and held at gunpoint more times than I would like, and yet she never left my side. If it hadn't been for the call to Gallifrey, she'd probably still be with me. I was selfish enough that I wouldn't have ever pushed her away.'

'Is that selfishness, Doctor, or is that love?'

He thought for a moment before answering. 'Well, perhaps a combination of both. I want to protect her, to keep her safe. But keeping her with me seemed more important.'

'But ultimately you weren't able to do even that.'

'No, unfortunately not. It doesn't change the way I still feel about her. The way I'll always feel about her.' He paused and looked away, obviously lost in thought.

Susan had her own thoughts spinning through her mind. 'Am I going to hurt Alan that same way? Am I going to leave him, or him leave me because something out of our control tears us apart?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'There's nothing saying it will.'

'And nothing saying it won't. Just look at the life I lead.' She ran a hand across her face and frowned. 'I have enemies that attacked me on my wedding day. I can't promise that I can keep him safe from that. He has a young daughter too and I can't protect either one of them.'

'Sue, you know the mistakes I made with Sarah, and yet, you say that she and I are just down the hallway, so it seems that we've been able to work through any issues.' He paused, then reached out and took Susan's hands in his own. 'I've never understood this human concept of love. I hope you're better able to navigate those waters than I was.'

'The first man I ever loved wasn't human.' Susan shrugged. 'However, I was raised human. I think I understand enough, but that doesn't mean I'm not scared.'

'I think everyone is scared of losing someone they love. For you and I, our lifestyles and who we are just make it more challenging.'

Susan thought for a moment, 'I know you well enough to know something else. You need to tell Mum.' She pulled a hand away to poke his chest with her finger. 'This you. Not the current you.'

The Doctor glared at her. 'Why?'

'Call it a human need or something. You meant so much to her and obviously you cared for her, but you never said it. At least not outright.'

'She knew.'

Susan squeezed the hand of his that she was still holding. 'Of course she knew, but that's not the point, is it? You said you didn't understand the human concept of love. That is part of it. Telling them how you feel.'

'You could be right. There is actually a subroutine in place for the next time I see Sarah.'

'There you are then. Does it need to be in the Zero Room, or can it be anywhere in the TARDIS?'

'It would need to be in here.'

Susan nodded, 'Fine. I'll go get her.' She started for the door.

'Sue, wait.' He took a deep breath before continuing. 'There's one last thing you need to know. Take each day as it comes, live it fully and enjoy it.'

When she nodded, he took a couple of steps towards her, reached out and pulled her into a warm hug. 'Thank you,' she said softly.

'I love you, Susan.'

'I love you too,' she paused. 'Dad.'

~!~!~!~


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N - More indulgence, I'm afraid, but it has it's purpose...honestly. :)  
_

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sarah saw the projection as soon as she walked into the room. 'How is this possible?' she asked.

The Doctor walked around and put his hands on the walls of the Zero Room, 'Well, the old girl has her ways.' He turned back to Sarah, tilting his head slightly and giving her one of his trademark smiles. 'Sue told me that you were just down the hall. I must admit, it does my old hearts a world of good.'

'How real are you?'

'As real as you want me to be,' he said softly, echoing his early statement to Susan. At Sarah's disbelieving look, he stepped towards her and continued, 'All right, as real as the TARDIS thinks I can be.'

Sarah walked around him, giving him the once over. 'I must admit, it's a good illusion. However, as you well know, I was just with you, the current version of you. So seeing this version of you is a bit, well, disconcerting. Especially given that I never saw you looking like this.' She paused, standing in front of him. 'Let me guess, an aged projection to allow for what you would look like today without regenerating?'

The Doctor smiled again, 'Precisely! I'm sure that my current self has probably filled you in on all the details. If he remembers that this program even exists.'

Sarah shook her head, 'He's never mentioned it. We have had other more important things on our mind. First and foremost, making sure Sue is all right. It's been a fairly traumatic few days.'

'Our daughter seems to have turned into an amazing young woman, Sarah.'

'Yes, pretty much completely without our influence. She may be better for that, although she's had some rough patches.'

The Doctor reached out and took Sarah's hands in his. 'Sarah, I always meant to come back for you, but I just couldn't.'

Sarah stared at their joined hands. 'That's water under the bridge now, Doctor.'

'Sue said that she knew about the Matrix, so my guess would be that you do as well.' Sarah only nodded in response, so he continued, 'I had a choice, Sarah.'

She looked up at him then, a small glimpse of confusion crossing her features. 'A choice?'

'You know the choice I made, to protect my history and to not disrupt the string of events that brought us together. However I could've come back. It would have caused other issues, but at least we could've been together. We could've raised Sue together.'

Sarah took a step back, breaking contact with him. She stared at the floor, 'What's done is done, we can't change it now. Why are you telling me this?'

He closed the distance between them, reached out and put his finger under Sarah's chin, tilting her head up towards him so he could see her face. 'I wrote this program, Sarah, because I needed you to understand.'

'Understand what?' she asked softly.

'Understand that when I left you, I had every intention of coming back. Watching you walk out that door, made my hearts break just to be apart from you for however long the Time Lords kept us apart. And then, the things I saw in the Matrix only made it worse. So much of me wanted to be with you, to build a life with you, to raise our child together. Feelings that I had been denying when you were right there with me and I had the chance to say something. I wanted to be a selfish old Time Lord and live out that regeneration with you.'

She had tears in her eyes. 'It wouldn't have worked, you know.'

The surprise on his face was evident. 'Why not?'

'Because you could never stay in one place too long, and the dangers of what we faced would've taken one of us sooner rather than later, and besides, the TARDIS would've been no place to raise a child.'

'I want to show you something, Sarah. I want you to see what I saw in the Matrix. The life that we could've had.'

She shook her head. 'Why? What does it accomplish, other than make me feel that we missed out on something? We both have a good relationship with our daughter, we can't go back and change that we didn't raise her. I'm just human, Doctor. Well mostly, anyway. I have Sue and Luke and I wouldn't trade what I have with them for anything. Even if that meant that we had to be apart.'

The Doctor sighed. 'I regret the choice I didn't make. I should've chosen you, Sarah.' He reached out and held her face with his hands. 'All I wanted was to keep you with me, keep you safe. I failed at both.'

'I don't need you to show me a projection of yourself to remind me of what I have or what I lost.' Sarah looked up as the projection faded. What had been so tangible merely a moment before was suddenly gone. She looked around the room quickly and saw the current Doctor leaning against the doorframe. Her head dropped. 'What was all that about?' she said as she took a deep breath.

He quickly crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. 'Oh Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I completely forgot about that program. I'd written it…' he dropped off.

She pulled back to look at him when he stopped in mid-sentence. 'Written it what?'

He took a deep breath. 'Thinking there were so many things I'd left unsaid between us, and after what I'd seen, I thought I'd never see you again.' He pulled her back towards him, drawing comfort from her proximity. 'You didn't need to see or hear that.'

'I did,' she said softly. 'I actually did.' She paused before continuing. 'It would've been better coming from him over thirty years ago. Or coming from you now rather than from him, that might've been easier.'

He took a step back, but kept his hands on her upper arms. As he gave her a contemplative look, he reached out and ghosted the fingers of one hand along the edges of her face. 'So much has changed for me, and for us.'

'In what way?' she asked.

'When I was him, the Time Lords were around and controlling things to a large extent. Now, it's just me, and I can finally be honest with you, and with myself.' Sarah began to cry softly and buried her head in his chest. 'Hey, what's wrong?' he asked.

'You made him real again. That face, that you. Even for just a moment.' She sniffed. 'Thank you.'

He kissed the top of her head, 'Sarah, you mean so much to me, not just then, but now too. The last thing I want to do is hurt you any more than I already have.'

'I value each moment we have together, Doctor, even though I know they're never permanent.' Sarah stepped back out of his embrace and walked around the room quickly as she thought, but said nothing.

The Doctor watched her and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more than normal. 'Sarah, you're blocking me.'

She turned and looked at him. 'The choice about coming back. I want to know what you saw in the Matrix.'

'Is it important?' he asked, a pained expression crossing his features. 'As you told him, it won't change what happened.'

'No, it doesn't, but he wasn't you.' She pointed at him for emphasis. 'I don't know how much longer you'll be here, especially given the prophecy you told me about. So maybe it's some strange human need for a "what if" to think about after you're gone.' She paced back and forth. 'A part of me always wondered what it would've been like if we'd raised Sue ourselves. At least maybe now, I'll have a picture to put with my imagination.'

'This will hurt you, Sarah. I can't intentionally do that.'

She turned to face him, determination etched on her features. 'This is my choice, and I'm asking you to show me.'

He walked slowly back towards her. 'Very well,' he said resignedly. He reached up with his index fingers and placed them gently against her temple, using the rest of his fingers to cradle her head. Together, they mentally watched the images roll around and solidify.

_The Doctor with the wild curls and bright smile stood in the doorway and watched his young daughter. Susan lay in the floor on her stomach, her feet up in the air, swinging them back and forth in no particular rhythm. She was propped up on her elbows and staring intensely at the colouring book in the floor in front of her. He smiled at her intensity as she picked a particular colour out of her massive crayon collection and began working on the page._

_Susan glanced up at him standing there. 'Hi Daddy,' she said quickly before turning her attention back to her task at hand._

_The Doctor walked in and crouched down next to Susan. 'Hello, Susie. What are you working on?'_

_'Just a picture.' She pointed, 'Look, Daddy, I drew the TARDIS in the background.'_

_He stood up, unwrapped his scarf and threw it and his jacket over the back of a nearby chair, and then sat down beside his daughter, making himself comfortable. 'I see, that's very good. He pointed at something else on the page. 'What is that?'_

_Susan laughed, 'It's a Dalek, Daddy.'_

_His eyes bulged in shock. 'Why would you draw that?'_

_'You think I can't hear you, but you and Mummy are always talking about the scary monsters you've seen.'_

_'You've never seen them, and yet that's remarkably accurate.'_

_'I just see them in my head like that.' She refocused her attention back on her task at hand, with the Doctor sitting, watching her in silence. After a minute, Susan sighed exaggeratedly. 'Dad-dy,' she said, drawing out the word. 'Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to help?' She reached out and held out a crayon to him._

_He leaned over and took the crayon from Susan's outstretched hand. 'What part do you want me to work on?'_

_Susan shrugged, 'Doesn't matter.'_

_The Doctor reached down and began to colour a small section. Getting uncomfortable leaning over, he decided Susan's position was the best. He rolled over on his stomach, feet crossed at the ankles. For the longest time, he and Susan coloured in silence, father and daughter, just enjoying the time together and the peace and quiet._

_Another voice from the doorway broke their concentration. 'Well, what trouble are you two getting into?' Sarah asked, a smile gracing her features._

_The Doctor looked up and smiled. 'Us, trouble? I don't know the meaning of the word.'_

_'Yea Mummy. Daddy is helping me colour Daleks.'_

_Sarah put her hands on her hips as she walked into the room. 'Are you telling our little girl monster stories again, Doctor?'_

_'I'm not a little girl, I'm almost six, Mummy.'_

_'Don't be letting your Daddy tell you stories that will keep you awake at night.'_

_Susan shook her head, 'You and Daddy always win, right Daddy?' She turned to the Doctor for reassurance._

_'That's right, Susie. In all my stories, we win.'_

Sarah gasped as the images ended. Tears rolled gently down her face. 'Thank you,' she said softly.

The Doctor reached up and carefully wiped away her tears with the pads of his thumbs. 'It would've been an amazing experience, my Sarah, but I think we did the best thing, under the circumstances.'

She only nodded and allowed him to wrap her comfortingly in his arms.

~!~!~!~


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N - We're getting really close to wrapping this one up, but first, there are some ramifications to the projection of the Older Four appearing to Sue and Sarah.  
_

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Alan walked into the galley to make some tea and was surprised to find Sarah already there. 'Good morning, Sarah Jane,' he gave her a smirk. 'Or should I start calling you Mum?'

She swatted him on the shoulder with one hand. 'Sarah Jane will be just fine, thank you. You're very chipper for this early in the morning.' She handed him a mug of tea.

He took the mug from her outstretched hand. 'I suppose I am. I have a lot to be thankful for.'

'We all do. Where's Sue?'

'Getting dressed. I told her I'd come down and make the tea.' He took a sip of his tea. 'But you beat me to it.'

'Early bird gets the worm and all that, I suppose.'

Alan couldn't help but notice that Sarah's reactions seemed muted, given the relief he knew they all felt at Susan's recovery. Before he had a chance to ask her about it, Susan walked into the galley with a yawn.

Sarah handed her a steaming mug. 'Good morning,' Sarah said with a smile.

'Thanks Mum,' Susan replied, taking the tea and giving Sarah a quick hug. 'Talk about perfect timing.' She leaned up and kissed Alan on the cheek as she walked past him. 'Thanks for making the tea, Alan,' she said sarcastically.

He laughed, 'My pleasure.'

Susan took a sip of her tea as they all sat down around the table. 'How are you this morning?' she asked Sarah.

'Good.' Sarah reached out and put her hand over Susan's. 'Sue, there's something you need to know.'

'I don't like the sound of that,' Susan admitted.

'Do I need to leave you two alone to chat?' Alan asked.

Sarah ignored Susan's comment. 'No, Alan, it's fine, honestly.' She turned to Susan. 'While there are things that I do regret where you're concerned, including not being honest with you when you were younger, most of the things I did, I would do over if I had the chance.'

Susan took a deep breath, knowing the answer to the question before she even asked. 'The Doctor showed you an alternative timeline, didn't he?'

Sarah nodded. 'Supposedly it was what he saw in the Matrix.'

'But you have your doubts.'

'Only doubts that anything would've been nearly as warm and fuzzy as what he showed me. The Doctor can't stay in one place for very long, so the whole idea of him being happy doing domestic just doesn't ring totally authentic. And if I'm perfectly honest, I can't imagine being able to do the domestic thing back then.'

Susan took a sip of her tea, 'I don't think you did bad in the time I did spend with you.'

Sarah raised an eyebrow. 'What did you call me until you were thirteen?'

'Aunt Sarah.'

'To my face, yes, but what about to your friends?'

Susan ducked her head, slightly embarrassed. 'My crazy aunt who told all the best stories.' Alan laughed. 'She did tell the best stories,' Susan defended. 'I always thought she was cool, a bit glamorous even, if a bit eccentric. I thought she was making it up, until I realised the stories were true.'

He nodded, 'I can only imagine.' Thinking back to the alternative timeline they had been discussing, Alan asked, 'Did the older Doctor show it to you? The timeline, I mean.' Alan asked.

Sarah shook her head. 'No, the current one.'

Susan thought for a moment. 'Mum, is it possible that because it's been such a long time, that maybe the Doctor has painted this pretty picture for himself. I mean, we both know he's different since the Time War. Could those memories have gotten, well, tainted?'

'I wouldn't like to think so, but I know where you're coming from. Either way, Sue I felt I needed to say something to you.' Sarah thought for a minute. 'You talked to the older Doctor. How was your conversation with him?'

Susan shrugged, 'Interesting I suppose. I guess there's a part of me that wants that form of connection that I never got a chance to have with the Doctor. I travelled with him for years, but I never thought of him as my father.' She looked down at the table. 'If that Doctor would've been around, I wonder if things would've been different. Don't get me wrong, Harry's been the best Dad I could've ever wanted, but it does make you wonder.'

'Sue,' Sarah said, measuring out her every word. 'Trust me when I say this, no matter how involved it would've appeared that the Doctor would've been in your life, I know that version of him well. I don't think he could've given you that sort of involvement. Especially back then. The images he showed me were snippets, only flashes of a life, not the whole life, not the way it truly would have been.'

Susan ran a hand over her eyes. 'I imagine you're right, Mum.' She looked up at Sarah. 'I suppose everyone wants to change something about their childhood or the relationship they have with their parents.' She looked over at Alan, 'Do you?'

'Sure.' He thought about it for a minute. 'My dad was in the Navy, so he was gone quite a bit, but I always remember how he called my mum "Duchess". I was your typical rebellious teenager and we were not on great terms when I left home.'

Sarah looked over at Alan, 'How is your relationship now?'

'It got better once Maria was born. They wanted to be involved in her life, and they both spoil her, as all good grandparents should.'

Susan drank the last of her tea and stood up. 'I'll be back in a few minutes.'

Alan looked up at her. 'Where are you going?'

She shook her head. 'There's a piece missing I need.' She leaned over and gave Alan a quick kiss before heading out of the room.

Alan just looked back at Sarah. Sarah gave him a small smile. 'I'm sure she's going to talk to the Doctor. That's what I would do if I were her.' Sarah stood up and took the empty mugs to the sink. 'Sue is processing. I can see it in her eyes, and know how she thinks.'

'You mean about her hearts and how all of that relates to who she is?'

Sarah nodded. 'She's known about the Doctor for several years, but with the whole heart situation, she's have to take a step back and re-evaluate her identity.'

'How does the Doctor feel about Sue?' he asked.

'He will always love her, always help her if possible, but he's never tried being a father figure to her. He didn't even meet her the first time until she was eighteen, and then didn't see her again until she was over thirty. Not exactly father-like material.' Sarah frowned. 'I think it scares him to some extent. He was a father before, and he lost his entire family in a war. So while he's been involved in Sue's life the last few years, he's also trying to protect her from the danger that being around him now brings.'

Alan watched Sarah in silence for several minutes before asking, 'So what about you, Sarah Jane? You've been very subdued this morning, so obviously something the Doctor said to you rattled you. Are you all right?'

Sarah took a deep breath as she sat back down at the table. 'The Doctor is a shadow. He passes in and out of lives all the time, never staying, never getting too involved. He changes things, circumstances, and people, sometimes without meaning to, because he's concentrating on the big picture, the things that impact the day to day. It's like tunnel vision. Focused on the end goal, but losing sight of what's going on around you.'

'What about you, Sarah Jane?'

'Ironically, I do the same thing where he's concerned. I look at who he is and what I feel for him, and tend to not want to think about the fact that he's over 1,000 years old and has a lifestyle that keeps me from being able to stay with him forever. We've lived most of our lives apart from one another, and yet we find ourselves right back in the same place. Together again, for a brief moment in a time. I know that I care for him way more than I should, especially knowing that he always has to leave us behind. Each time, it's as if my heart is sliced open, and each time, I let him right back in.' She ran a hand across her eyes. 'I must be crazy.'

'Not necessarily,' Alan said, shaking his head. He reached out, covered Sarah's hand and gave her a small smile. 'It sounds like love to me, Sarah Jane.'

~!~!~!~

Susan headed into the console room and wasn't surprised to find the Doctor with his head buried underneath the console itself. All she could see was a pinstriped suit with a paper thin body lying in the floor. Without coming out, she heard him, although he was muffled. 'Ah Sue, good, could you hand me the Ganymede driver?'

She pulled the toolbox next to her and sat down in the floor next to him. She pulled out the wrench like device and handed it through to him.

'Good, now the Astro-Recifier.'

She passed the other tool to him and sat quietly.

He stuck his head out only briefly to tap her on the arm. 'How about the Zeus plugs next?' He quickly disappeared again.

She searched in the toolbox. 'I see the Winklegruber Crimps, but not the Zeus plugs.'

'Nevermind, just hand me the sonic screwdriver, that should do it. I have a few spare Mergin nuts in here that I can make work with the sonic.'

'Doctor?' she questioned.

'I'm trying to get this fixed,' came back the agitated reply from underneath the console.

Susan closed her eyes and very pointedly sent a projected thought.

Immediately, the Doctor's head popped out from underneath the console. 'What? How could you think that?'

Susan shrugged in response. 'What do you expect me to think?'

The Doctor held up two fingers. 'Two minutes, just give me two minutes.' He disappeared back underneath the console again.

Susan stood up and walked around the console room, taking in all the equipment and just absorbing the atmosphere. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She finally stopped in front of the console and rested her hands along it. She reached out and patted one corner affectionately.

After a minute, the Doctor finally stood up and grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands off. 'Now, what's on your mind, Sue.'

'You, me, Mum.' Susan took a deep breath. 'What is going on?'

'I don't know what you mean?'

'Mum is in the galley making tea and staring off in to space, and you're buried underneath the console and I'm just trying to figure out what the hell happened.'

'Meaning?'

'This choice that your older self mentioned to me and that you showed Mum. There's no way that could've been a reality, is there?'

The Doctor ran a hand along his chin as he frowned. 'It's possible, Sue. Somewhere out there exists a universe where I wasn't called back to Gallifrey, where you were raised in the TARDIS. Another universe where I went to Gallifrey, but then I came back. The possibilities are as limitless as there are parallel universes.'

Susan sat down in the jump seat. 'What about the universe that we're in. Doctor, you didn't come back, and I wasn't raised by you or Mum. Sure, I knew Mum, but she wasn't a fixture, at least for the longest time. My role models and influences were all scientists and soldiers.'

The Doctor came down to sit beside her. 'Your life wasn't bad, was it?'

Susan shook her head. 'No, of course not. Dad did an amazing job of raising me as a single parent.' She smiled, 'I only really had that one wild spell at sixteen.'

The Doctor laughed, 'You could say that. Meet an alien, follow them off planet, get involved in a civil war, fall in love.'

'I grew up.'

'That you did,' the Doctor nodded in agreement.

'In more ways than one. It expanded my horizons and let me know that it isn't about what planet you're from or who your family is. Your life and experiences are so much bigger than that.'

The Doctor reached out and took Sue's hand in hers. 'Look, Sue, that's what makes us who we are. You and I are unique in the entire Universe now. I'm the last of the Time Lords, and you're my daughter. There's no one else left. You and Sarah are really the only family I have. Yes, what I saw in the Matrix could have been real. Point is, ultimately, it wasn't.' He paused for a moment. 'You know, in all the time you travelled with me, I never asked. What was your childhood really like?'

Susan shrugged, 'It was good, relatively stable, all things considering. I don't remember Elizabeth, since I was only three when she died. I spent most of my time with Dad, but every so often, he would get called away for several days. I'd usually stay with Mum, or Aunt Sarah as I called her at the time. If it wasn't convenient for me to stay with her, I'd stay with Aunt Liz and Uncle Alistair.'

The Doctor laughed. 'It amuses me to hear the Brigadier referred to as "Uncle Alistair".'

'You didn't know him like I did. He has always been the gruff soldier on the outside, but he was always just a big teddy bear with me. Very protective. I'd even go with Aunt Liz to her lab and I'd get to hand her test tubes and ask about her experiments. It was a great experience for me.'

The Doctor smirked, 'Did you tell her how brilliant she was?'

'What?' Susan gave him a confused look. 'No.'

'Nevermind. Just something the Brigadier told me once.'

'Anyway, they were the ones I talked to a lot when we got back from Trivid. I didn't really feel like I could talk to Dad about it, and Mum was still too emotionally fragile. So, needless to say, Aunt Liz heard way more about my relationship with Mirsaj than anyone should've. I was broken hearted when we came home. She had to convince me that I would move on and learn to love again.' Susan smiled. 'And now I have.'

The Doctor stood up, 'Speaking of which, I have a wedding present for you and Alan.'

'Oh yes?'

At that moment, Susan realised that the time rotor had stopped moving. 'We've landed. Where have we landed?' she asked.

'I have not forgotten why were all gathered together in the first place, Sue.' At that moment, Sarah and Alan walked into the console room. The Doctor pushed the monitor in front of Sue. 'Take a look.'

'That looks like…'

The Doctor nodded and smiled. 'It is. The exact day you were supposed to arrive.'

Susan ran down the ramp and threw open the door. A huge smile crossed her features and she turned back to Alan. 'Alan, come look, it's our hotel in Bermuda. He got us here for our honeymoon.'

Alan joined Susan at the bottom of the ramp and wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her temple. 'It's beautiful.'

Susan turned back to the Doctor. 'But our luggage was at home.'

The Doctor simply pointed at two packed suitcases at the bottom of the ramp, set off to one side.

'Seriously?'

He nodded, 'Can't have you losing out on something as special as that. Now, my preference would've been to take you someplace brilliant, like Florana for example.'

Sarah walked over to the Doctor and put a hand on his arm, 'No, that's quite all right, that never quite works out how you plan.'

Susan leaned up and whispered something into Alan's ear. He nodded, 'Good point. I'll check right now.' He turned back to the Doctor and Sarah, 'I'll be back in just a second.'

At the questioning look she got from Sarah, Susan added, 'He's making sure our reservations are accurate.'

'You're within an hour of when you would've arrived if you'd flown in after your wedding.'

Alan came back in. 'Everything's in order.'

Susan took a deep breath. 'Well then, time for us to be off and start our new life.' She walked up the ramp and gave Sarah a hug. 'I love you, Mum.'

'Love you too, Sue. Be careful, although, considering all you've been through, this will be a breeze.'

'You're not kidding.' Susan then walked over and gave the Doctor a hug. 'Thank you, Doctor, for everything.'

'My pleasure, Sue.' Then he whispered in her ear so only she could hear, 'I packed something extra in your suitcase. You'll know what it is when you see it.'

She smiled and nodded. 'Now, you're going to get Mum home in one piece, yea?'

'Of course. Luke would kill me if I didn't.'

As Susan headed back down the ramp and Alan picked up the suitcases, they both turned to say a final goodbye. The Doctor reached into his pocket. 'Sue, one more thing.' He took a silver object out of his pocket and tossed it down the ramp towards Susan. 'Make sure you check out setting 64 at the appropriate time.' He sent a thought towards her with a smile.

She reached out and caught it with one hand. She smiled as she looked at it. 'My own sonic screwdriver?'

'Can't be without one, and I figured you wouldn't want a lipstick like Sarah.'

Susan looked at the long silver cylinder with the purple light at the end. 'It's perfect Doctor, thank you.'

With a final wave, they both left, and the Doctor closed the door behind them. He turned to Sarah and smiled. 'Well, my Sarah Jane, our fledgling has flown the coop. Does that make us empty nesters?'

~!~!~!~


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Without a word, Sarah put a hand on the Doctor's arm, let it rest there a moment, then walked over and sat gently down on the jump seat. She took a deep breath, but continued to say nothing.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, then started tweaking settings on the console. After a few minutes, the Doctor turned and looked at her. 'You're quiet.'

'So are you,' she said, looking up at him.

They lapsed back into silence. After several minutes, the Doctor couldn't stand it anymore. 'Well, where do we go from here?'

Sarah shrugged, 'Home, I guess. Bannerman Road on the date we left. I should get back to Luke.'

The Doctor frowned, then walked over and sat down beside her. His voice was soft, but hopeful. 'We don't have to, you know. We have the entire Universe available to us, Sarah. We're alone for the first time in decades, with no schedule, no plan and no one's agenda but our own. Come with me again, just for a while. It'll be like old times, well, no, better than before.'

She raised her eyebrow. 'Better? Doctor, you're a magnet for trouble, I've known you too long to think otherwise.'

He reached out and took her hand in his. 'What about a holiday? We could go anywhere you wanted. Sarah, I will take you home if that is what you want, but my preference would be to spend more time with you. We didn't get many quiet times aboard the TARDIS before.'

'And you think we would now? Why? What's different now?'

'I'm not the carefree young man I once was. You're too important Sarah. Besides, I realise how important it is to spend time with those you care about, to treasure it.'

'What about your prophecy?'

He shrugged, 'I have no idea when that will happen. I know it's relatively soon.' He looked over at her, reached up and ghosted the backs of his fingers along her face. 'What do you say to one more trip, a holiday? Someplace relaxing and inviting, some peace and quiet after all the recent stress?

Sarah glanced over at the console before looking back at the Doctor. She rolled her eyes, but smiled. 'What did you have in mind?'

He smiled broadly. 'Andara, actually.'

'Return to the scene of the crime, so to speak?'

'Oh Sarah,' he reached up and ran a hand through her hair. 'You have to admit it was one of the better places we went during our travels together.'

She laughed ,'Yes, you could say that. It got us to where we are today.'

'That it did, my Sarah Jane, that it did.'

'All right, Doctor, you win.' Sarah held up one finger. 'One more trip to Andara for old time's sake, then back to Bannerman Road before Luke has a chance to miss us.'

The Doctor jumped up, 'Excellent!' He danced around the console, throwing switches and frequently looking back to Sarah, a massive smile plastered on his face.

'I never could say no to you, really,' Sarah said softly with a smile.

As the TARDIS landed, The Doctor walked back to the jump seat and reached out a hand to Sarah. 'Is this a bad thing?' He guided her down the ramp and threw open the door. 'Andara!' he gestured grandly with his free hand while watching her face intently for her reaction. He realised instantly that the look on her face didn't match his expectations. It wasn't until she started laughing that he looked out the doors for himself. 'Oh, right, well, shall we try again?' he asked.

Sarah shut the door and leaned against it as the Doctor made his way up the ramp. She crossed her arms and couldn't help but smirk at the disappointed look on his face. 'You look like a lost little boy.'

He smacked one of the console controls. 'It should've been right there, I don't understand.'

With a sigh, Sarah walked up the ramp and stood next to the Doctor, then reached out and wrapped her arm around his waist. 'It's all right, really.'

He pulled Sarah to him in a tight embrace. 'I'm going to get us there. This is important.'

She pulled back only enough to look up at him. 'Why?'

He looked down, his eyes searching her face. 'What?'

'Important why?'

He pulled her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head. 'It just is, Sarah. It's important to me.'

~!~!~!~

Susan stood by the bathroom door, listening for the running water. Once she was sure Alan was in the shower, she walked back to her suitcase and looked at the blueish piece of coral she'd tucked under her other clothes as soon as she'd seen it.

Reaching into one of the pockets, she pulled out her sonic screwdriver and put it on setting 64. Activating it, she watched as from the purplish glow, a small holographic image of the Doctor shimmered and hovered about a half metre in front of her. 'Great, he's pretending we're in Star Wars now. "Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" indeed,' she muttered.

'Hello Sue, I hope you're having a good time. I think I know you well enough to know that you're probably still in Bermuda and we only left you within the last few hours, or at most a day or two. I hope you waited until you were alone like I asked.' The figure in front of her stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. 'I gather that you've found the TARDIS coral that I tucked into your luggage. When you get home, check out setting 347-10. It will give you all the instructions you need for proper growth and care.'

Susan smiled. 'Why 64 now?' she wondered quietly.

'I bet your wondering why I put this in setting 64. Remember the Beatles song "When I'm 64"? Sarah says you're a fan of the Beatles, so you should. Anyway, as has been made painfully aware to you recently, you're not quite human anymore. Your aging rate isn't the same as a normal human, so just be aware that you might need to make some,' he paused again, as if searching for the word, 'manual adjustments through the years. I may not see you again and if I don't, just know this, I care about you, Sue. But most importantly, have a brilliant life.'

The image faded just as Susan realised the water had stopped running in the bathroom. She quickly tucked the screwdriver and the coral back into her suitcase. She gave the coral one last look and closing her case, wondered if she'd have any trouble with customs heading home.

~!~!~!~

The Doctor pulled on his blue shirt, buttoning it quickly. He looked over at his tie and jacket draped across the nearby chair, but decided not to worry about putting those on. Rolling up his shirtsleeves, he walked out on the balcony of the hotel room. He took a deep breath and watched the waves crash along the shore. Glancing back into the room, he smiled as he saw Sarah still sleeping soundly.

Something on the edge of the beach caught his attention. A flash of burgundy and a long scarf. He searched his memory for any recollection that he'd been here before, other than the time he'd been there with Sarah. Something scratched at the edges of his mind, then began to solidify.

_The Doctor strolled along the main beach on Andara, his long burgundy scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, ends flapping madly in the wind. His boots left heavy footprints in the sand as he walked. Anyone who'd seen him as he looked out over the water would've noticed the sadness behind the tired look in his eyes._

_He'd left his long coat in the TARDIS, and had his shirtsleeves rolled up slightly. He stopped for a moment and watched the waves crash against the shoreline, pondering why he'd been summoned to this place. The Watcher had given him very specific instructions, including coming here before heading to Logopolis, and making sure Adric stayed in the TARDIS once he got here._

_He began walking again, looking around the beach and dunes, expecting the Watcher to be waiting for him somewhere. Another message he was to receive. Another step towards closing the chapter of this regeneration. He'd been in this body a long time, and as time passed, he realised he had many regrets. His largest one involving one very specific human._

_So he walked, on the beach of the planet where their lives turned and changed. He ran a hand through his curls and pondered the last time he'd seen Sarah. It had been several years after he'd left her. He met her adopted son, Luke, but there was no one else. The more he thought about that, the more something seemed wrong about it. There was someone else. Something that tingled at the back of his memory, something he knew to be true but yet nothing he could concretely put his finger on._

_He looked up at one of several hotels that dotted themselves along the shoreline. He saw someone standing on one of the balconies. There was a familiar tingle in his mind and knew he was looking at a future incarnation. His hearts nearly leapt from his chest as instantly recognised Sarah as she stepped out on the balcony. He knew she shouldn't see him, so he quickly made his way down the beach._

The Doctor watched his younger self walk down the beach and took another deep breath. He turned as Sarah came up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. He quickly embraced her and turned her, so that she couldn't see his younger self continuing to walking away. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. 'Did you sleep well?' He felt rather than saw her smile in response.

'Well, in what little I did sleep, yes.' Sarah absently ran her hands along his back and felt the tension in his body, so she pulled back enough to look up at him. She'd known him long enough to recognise the look on his face. He'd been pondering something before she'd approached him. 'What are you thinking about?'

He reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. 'You.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Doctor?'

He sighed. 'Just remembering the last time I was here.'

'You've been here since we were here together?'

He nodded before pulling her back close to him again. 'Right before I regenerated from my fourth body.'

Sarah turned from his embrace and looked out over the water, her voice distant. 'You came here then?' She took a deep breath. 'Why?'

'I was told to. It made me realise how much I'd lost.'

They stood together in silence for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts, before Sarah asked. 'So who had you come here?'

'I did.'

'What?' Sarah asked, looking up at him.

'A projection of my future, he told me to come.'

'Why?'

'Because I needed to forgive myself. I never could've moved forward if I didn't acknowledge the decisions I'd made in my past and come to terms with them.' He squeezed Sarah's hand. 'I've lost a lot over the years, but I'm a better man now, Sarah. Back then, the Universe was different. I was alone and miserable, hiding myself behind certain made up rules and so many other things that weren't really important. Now I'm able to have a relationship with you and with our daughter.'

Sarah wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. 'For the record, I'm glad I'm here now.'

~!~!~!~


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Looks like there may just be one more chapter of this one...we'll see how it progresses. Oh, I've been told you need tissues!_

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Sarah poked her head out of the TARDIS door and looked around her attic on Bannerman Road. She stepped out, a sense of finality overwhelming her. The Doctor walked out and stood right behind her. 'Everything still in one piece?' he asked, a smirk on his features.

She walked around the room, 'Looks to be.' She quickly went over to her desktop computer and typed a web address into the Internet browser. 'Same day we left,' she said as she read the results.

The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS frame with his arms crossed. 'Did you have any doubts?'

She looked back at him and smiled, 'Only perhaps one.'

He quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a warm embrace. He quickly kissed her forehead then pulled back to look into her eyes. 'Are you sure I can't take you someplace else? Anywhere you want to go. The Universe is your oyster, Sarah Jane.'

Sarah reached up to run a hand along his line of his jaw. 'We agreed. Just one trip to Andara, which we did.' She smiled, 'And it was incredible. I enjoyed every moment, but I can't keep running off.'

He nodded, 'Your responsibilities here, I know.' He pulled her close again and rested his chin on the top of her head. 'I have to soon answer the Ood summons. It's almost time.'

'I wish you didn't have to, but I understand.' Sarah buried her face in his jacket. 'There's a part of me that wishes you were here, all the time, but I know that's not who you are.'

'Oh Sarah, there will always be times when we can't be together, but know this, you're always with me in my hearts, even if I can't be here with you in the flesh.' He felt her nod into his jacket and relax slightly. He took a step back, but let his hands remain on her shoulders. 'Sarah, there's something very important I have to tell you.' he looked deeply into her eyes. 'Our telepathic connection, and my connection with Susan. I will try to protect you both as much as I can, but it's possible, depending on what happens and where I am, that you or especially Sue could sense…' he trailed off, unable to continue.

Tears filled Sarah's eyes and hovered on the edge, threatening to fall. 'I know.' She looked down at the floor and took a deep breath before looking back up at him. 'It's not fair that you have to leave like this.' The tears finally escaped and she was powerless to stop them.

He reached up and took her face in his hands, wiping away the tears with the pads of his thumbs. 'If there's any way, Sarah, any way at all to let you know afterwards, I just can't promise.'

'I know you'll do what you can. I never needed promises from you Doctor, not then and not now.'

He nodded, then turned and headed towards the TARDIS. He opened the door before turning back to Sarah, taking in her tearful eyes and sad smile. He crossed back over to her in two steps and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up off the floor, holding her tightly to him. 'Goodbye, my Sarah Jane,' he whispered into her hair. Gently depositing her back down on the floor, without another word, he went back to the TARDIS and quickly disappeared inside.

As the winds of dematerialisation surrounded Sarah, she wiped away her tears as she sank down onto the attic step. 'Until we meet again, my Doctor.'

~!~!~!~

Susan felt a tingle go through every particle of her body. She looked around and watched as Alan and Maria's heads began to shake. She watched as they changed and took on the same face. It was a face she instantly recognized, even though she knew she shouldn't. They both approached her, hate radiating out of the identical pairs of eyes. Susan jumped out of the way as Alan reached for her and instead headed for a small cabinet in the corner of the room. She opened the door and ducked inside, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it.

'Thank heavens for quick grow,' she said as she took a deep breath and glanced around the expansive room. She quickly ran up the stairs towards the centre console and made sure the door was locked. She rested her hands on the console, feeling it hum underneath her fingers. 'Show me,' she said softly, then looked up at the monitor. The monitor flashed multiple images in succession of various places and every human wearing the Master's face. 'All the humans,' she said aloud. 'But not me. And if not me, then possibly not…' She started throwing switches and levels and the familiar sounds of dematerialisation echoed through the room.

~!~!~!~

Sarah ran up the stairs to the attic and shut the door behind her, whipping out her sonic lipstick and locking the doors. 'Mr. Smith, I need you, quickly.'

The fanfare echoed through the room as the supercomputer activated. 'Yes, Sarah Jane.'

'What's going on? It looks like someone has taken over every human.'

'I'm afraid your suspicions are correct, Sarah Jane, every human on the planet seems to be affected, according to my scans.'

'Including Luke,' Sarah added sadly. 'We have to find out who's behind it, and find a way to reverse this, Mr. Smith.' Sarah looked around as a wheezing, groaning noise filled the attic. She spied what looked like a corner cabinet begin to materialise, then fade and reappear, now looking like a part of the chimney fixtures around Mr. Smith.

Sarah held out her sonic lipstick, until a familiar face appeared through the makeshift doors. She breathed a sigh of relief and put her lipstick down. 'Sue, thank heavens.'

Susan came out and quickly embraced Sarah. 'I was hoping you weren't human enough to get caught up in that.'

'Apparently not, but Luke was.'

Susan frowned, 'He'll be all right, I know he will, but we can't do anything to help him here. Let's get in the TARDIS where we know we'll be safe.' She reached out and took Sarah's hand, but Sarah pulled back. 'Mum, you can't help him out here.' She looked up at the Zylok supercomputer. 'Mr. Smith, feed any information you get directly into my TARDIS.'

'Of course, Susan.'

Susan pulled Sarah into her TARDIS, quickly closing the doors behind them. Sarah looked around at the bluish teal colors. 'Suits you,' she said softly, trying to not think about the situation outside.

'Well, I'm limited to Earth in the present time until the TARDIS is complete, but at least it protects us from the Master. Until we figure out what's going on.'

'How do you know it's the Master?' Sarah asked.

Susan shrugged, 'I don't know how to explain it, I just do.' She tapped her temple. 'I can feel it in here. I don't know if that's coming from the Doctor or what.' She took a deep breath. 'At least this shields us. The Master won't know we're here as long as I keep the TARDIS on low power.'

Susan and Sarah waited as time passed. They kept apprised of the situation through the news feeds passed to them from Mr. Smith. Suddenly, the entire room shook, throwing both Susan and Sarah to the floor. 'What was that?' Sarah asked as she pulled herself upright.

'Time Lords,' Susan grabbed at her head, the searing intensity of millions of voices burning through her dendrites. With effort, Susan pulled herself up, looked at the monitor, then swung it around so Sarah could see the massive planet that threatened Earth. 'Gallifrey is returning,' Susan said, almost reverently. She held onto the console tightly as she walked around, beginning to set the coordinates. 'Mum, you need to stay here.'

'Where you are going?'

'I think I've been able to locate the Doctor. If he needs my help against the Master, I need to be there.'

Sarah went over and put her hand on Sue's arm. 'Sue, this isn't our fight. As much as we want to help the Doctor.'

Susan looked over at Sarah, the pain and anger playing out across her face. 'Can't you feel the conflict in his mind? The decisions he's making right now are agonising to him. Can't you feel the pain, the physical pain he's in?'

Sarah shook her head, 'Not at the same level you do.'

She turned back to the console. 'That's why I have to go.'

'No, Sue, that's why you have to stay.' Sarah took a deep breath. 'Remember the prophecy? This is it, this is the time. We can't interfere. He doesn't want you to be involved in that. Everything he's done up until now was to protect you. He didn't want the Time Lords finding out about you, and if they're truly returning, you put yourself in danger. You can't go against his wishes now.'

Susan balled up a fist and slammed it against the console. 'I didn't know this would happen on Earth, when we actually might have the ability to help, to stop things from proceeding. We have to do something!'

Sarah took Susan by the shoulders and turned her around so she could look in her eyes. 'Sue, listen to what you're saying. You know it goes against everything the Doctor wanted. Susan,' her voice lowered. 'You know I'm right.'

Susan's head dropped. As she slowly raised it, Sarah could see the unevenness in Susan's jaw, the tears in her eyes, the desperation that radiated across her entire face. 'Yes, you're right,' she finally admitted. 'But what do we do?'

Sarah kept her hands on Susan's upper arms. 'Sue, sweetheart, we can't do anything.'

'But Mum,'

'No buts, listen to me Sue. The Doctor knew that there might be some way that you could sense what was going on. He wanted to make sure that you weren't involved. This is his fight, not yours.'

'I can't just sit by and do nothing.' The tears in her eyes began to stream down her face.

Sarah reached up and ran a hand through Susan's hair. 'Sue, I know you want to run off and help him. Believe me, so do I. But this is his fight. This is something he knew he had to face alone. Your TARDIS is not fully developed, it can't give you the protection that you would need to fight the Master. You're safer here. We're both safer here.'

Susan stiffened, and when she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. 'Something's happened.'

Sarah ducked her head. 'I know, I feel it too.'

Mother and daughter embraced and held tightly to each other, each mourning something they knew they couldn't change.

~!~!~!~

The Doctor stood at the TARDIS console. He could feel the regeneration energy coursing through his veins. There were places he needed to go first. To collect his reward, as he'd told Wilf.

He'd visited several of his former companions, and stepped into their lives either saving them or saving someone they cared for. He'd just pushed Luke out of the way of a speeding car. He saw Sarah and knew that she knew what was coming. He gave her a sad smile and small wave as he stepped back into the TARDIS.

It wouldn't have mattered where he was in the Universe, as he set the coordinates for his next stop, he felt Susan's heart breaking. Something was seriously wrong. He'd been debating when in her timeline he could safely see her. And this was his best opportunity.

The TARDIS landed, and he quickly made his way through the corridors of the UNIT hospital, knowing instinctively where to go. He lingered in the doorway of the room and watched Alan as he smoothed back Susan's hair as gut wrenching sobs wracked her entire body. 'Shhhh,' he said consolingly, trying to calm her tears. 'I'm right here, Sue.'

'It's not fair,' she said, her voice exhausted from emotion and effort. 'I am so sorry, Alan.'

He perched on the side of the small bed and did his best to wrap his arms around her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. 'It's not your fault, Sue, we knew this was a possibility from the very beginning.'

She leaned into his chest and let him hold and support her. 'I never thought it would happen.' The tears streamed down her face. 'The possibilities were so small that there would be any problems.'

The Doctor frowned and turned from the doorway, following his instincts. As he walked, he avoided being seen by anyone, even though he knew that Sarah and Harry had to be close by. He entered a lift at the same time as a nurse that was pushing a small bassinet. He looked down and saw the small figure completely covered in a blanket.

Trying to cover the overwhelming sadness at seeing the body of his newest grandchild, he pulled the psychic paper out of his coat and turned to the nurse and flashed it to her. 'Major Jackson's child?' he asked.

The nurse looked at the paper, then up at the Doctor before nodding sadly. 'Yes, sir. There wasn't anything we could do.'

'May I?' he gestured to the body. He willed the tears to not flow.

The nurse hesitated. 'I don't know, sir.'

'Trust me, I'm the Doctor,' he said with a watery smile. Looking down at his own hands, he watched as the golden glow of regeneration wrapped around them. He pulled back the blanket and gently picked up the baby girl, cradling her to him and watching as the glow from his hands surrounded her tiny frame. He put a hand on the baby's chest and waited until he felt the heartbeat steadily beneath his fingers and colour return to her small cheeks.

The nurse looked on in disbelief at the child. 'Doctor, what did you do?'

'Let's just call it magic. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to take her back to her parents.' The baby started to fuss, so he held her closely and began to gently rock back and forth.

'Sir, I realise that you are a high ranking member of UNIT, but it would be highly improper…'

He cut her off, his tone clipped and determined. 'I'm this child's grandfather and I'm taking her back to her parents. Without you.' Just then the lift doors opened and the nurse could only watch as the Doctor strode from the lift, the baby held tightly to his chest.

As he waited for another lift to take him up back up to Susan's room, he looked down at the baby and smiled as he tightened the blanket around her, 'You're going to be brilliant. Just like your Mum and Dad, and Grandmum, and me of course.' He put his finger out and beamed as the baby wrapped her hand around it. 'Oh aren't you just adorable!' He stuck out his lips and spoke in his best baby voice, 'Oh yes you are, yes you are!'

The lift doors open and he quickly entered. 'I need to get you back where you belong.' He lifted the baby up gently and placed a kiss on her tiny forehead. 'I'm sure they'll tell you about me, and I can't wait to hear all about you.'

Sarah walked into Susan's hospital room, noting that Susan was finally sleeping, while Alan sat in a chair beside the bed, his head in his hands. She reached out and put a hand on Alan's shoulder. 'Harry is taking Luke home. He said he'd be happy to take Maria to Chrissie's if you wanted,' she whispered.

Alan looked up and Sarah noticed that his eyes were red from crying. 'Yea,' he said softly. 'Will you stay with her while I go talk to Harry?'

Sarah nodded, 'Absolutely.'

Susan stirred, but didn't wake up as Alan stood up and headed towards the door. He saw the Doctor standing in the doorway, a baby cradled in his arms. 'Doctor?'

'What's going on?' Sarah asked. She walked up to stand next to Alan.

Without a word, the Doctor walked past Alan and Sarah to stand by Susan's bed. 'Sue,' he said softly.

Susan opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times as she took in the sight before her. 'Doctor?'

The Doctor gently placed the baby in Susan's arms. 'Congratulations, Mum,' his words barely above a whisper as tears filled his eyes. He rested his hand on the top of her head for a moment, saying nothing, but conveying everything with his eyes and thoughts.

Susan couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely again as she looked up at him. 'Thank you,' her words choked with emotion.

Alan quickly crossed over to the opposite side of the bed and looked down at the baby, as Sarah watched the exchange. The Doctor took a deep breath, and with a nod to Susan, headed out the door, stopping only to give Sarah's arm a gentle squeeze.

Sarah looked at Susan and Alan, then glanced over her shoulder. 'I'll be back.' She headed out the door and after looking in both directions, caught a glimpse of a long brown coat going around a corner. She followed the Doctor down the hallway, and when she was within earshot, she called out to him.

He turned to her, his face etched in pain. 'I have to go, Sarah. I can't hold the regeneration energy back much longer.'

'Stay here, Doctor. You don't need to be alone through this. I've been with you before when you regenerated, I can be again.'

'It's too dangerous this time, I absorbed too much radiation and the energy is building up to explosive proportions. I was able to siphon off some of it for the baby, but I need to be in the TARDIS. I'm so sorry, Sarah.' He gave her a sad smile, 'Besides, Susan and our new granddaughter need you.' Without another word, he walked away and Sarah could only watch him go as the tears fell unhindered.

~!~!~!~


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Well, this is the final chapter, only the epilogue is remaining.  
_

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Harry walked around the corner in time to see Sarah standing there crying. He immediately walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. 'Hey, Sarah, Old Girl, it will all be all right.'

Sarah turned and buried her head in his shoulder for a moment, overwhelmed from the emotion of having lost the Doctor again, then pulled back at looked at Harry. She realised that he didn't know what had just happened. 'Harry, have you seen Sue?'

'Not since…' his voice trailed off sadly.

Sarah took a step back and then took him by the hand. 'Come on, you have to see her.' Sarah quickly led him back to Susan's hospital room.

He stood in the doorway, his breath catching in his throat as he heard the newborn baby's cry. Susan looked up from where she was cradling the baby tightly to her and smiled. 'Dad, come and meet your granddaughter.'

'What happened? I thought that…' Harry walked into the room and came to stand by the bed. He looked down at the baby and gently rested a hand on the top of her head.

'It was the Doctor. I'm not sure what he did,' Alan admitted.

Harry leaned over and gave Susan a quick kiss on the temple. 'She's beautiful, Sue.'

'Do you want to hold her?'

He smiled, 'Try and stop me.' As Sue carefully transferred the baby to Harry's arms, he hesitated before asking. 'So the Doctor was involved. Any idea how he did this?'

'Regeneration energy, he said,' Sarah noted.

Susan nodded, 'He explained it to me in those telepathic flashes he's so good at. Basically, his body was building up regeneration energy and he was able to filter just enough off to repair the damage to her heart.'

Harry nodded. 'Well done, Doctor. But if he's regenerating, he shouldn't be alone. Where is he now?'

'He said it was too dangerous this time,' Sarah said softly.

Harry frowned, but said nothing. This wasn't the time. He focused on the baby in his arms. 'So, have you decided what you're going to name her.'

Susan smiled, 'Yes, actually. Alanna Jane Jackson.'

~!~!~!~

FIVE YEARS LATER

Alan sat at the desk in his home office. In front of him, three computer monitors each scrolled multiple calculations across their screens, running through the code of a particular program. He ran his hands over his eyes as the code continued to stream past.

He looked down as he felt a small tug on his shirtsleeve. He smiled and quickly scooped Alanna up into his lap. 'What's up, sweetheart?'

She frowned as she looked up at him. 'Why don't you answer?'

'What do you mean?'

'When I talk to you from here,' she pointed at her temple. 'Mummy answers me when I talk to her.'

Alan leaned over and kissed Alanna on her forehead. 'Daddy isn't as good as Mummy with that.'

Alanna leaned over and put her head on his chest. 'Daddy, why is Mummy sad?'

'Sad? Mummy is sad?'

Alanna nodded slowly. 'She said she's fine, but she's crying.'

Alan frowned and gave Alanna a big hug before standing up and setting her down on the floor. 'Why don't I go see why Mummy is upset?' Alanna only nodded as she watched him walk away.

Alan stood by the bathroom door and waited until he heard the shower cut off. After a few minutes, he knocked gently on the door. When he didn't get a response, he put his ear against the door, then knocked again. 'Sue?' He slowly opened the door and frowned as he saw Sue, completely wrapped in an oversized towel, sitting on the edge of the tub, her head in her hands.

He walked in and knelt in front of her, reaching out and resting a hand on one of her arms. 'Hey, Love, what's wrong?'

She looked up at him, her red rimmed eyes the only evidence of tears. 'Is this about London?' he asked. When she nodded, he reached up and touched her cheek. 'I thought you were excited about going back?'

'I am, but I got a call today,' she said softly. 'I'm supposed to check in for a briefing, and then they want to ship me off to the UNIT base in Antarctica for six months.'

Alan reached up and smoothed down Susan's damp hair. 'Why?'

She shook her head. 'I don't know, but I have my suspicions. Alan, I don't want to leave you and Alanna for six months.'

'There isn't any way around it is there?' Alan asked.

'There's one way. Maybe it's high time I retire. I've been following orders my whole adult life, so perhaps a change is in order.'

'What would you do?'

Susan shrugged. 'I haven't thought that far yet. I only know how to be a soldier, but I'm sure there's some freelance something or other I could pick up.'

Alan leaned over and kissed her gently, then stood up and took her by the hand, pulling her up. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a deep kiss. 'You know,' he said with a wicked smirk after a minute, 'I rather like this new outfit of yours.'

She looked down at her towel. 'Ha ha, very funny.'

A small voice from the door way interrupted them. 'Mummy, I'm glad you're not sad now.'

Susan walked over and picked up Alanna, 'No, Mummy's not sad now.' Alanna rested her head on Susan's shoulder.

~!~!~!~

ONE YEAR LATER

Sarah sat on the sofa in her living room, her arm wrapped around the shoulders of her young granddaughter. She smoothed down the little girl's long dark hair as she finished reading the book she was holding with her other hand. 'The end.'

Alanna looked up at her, 'Grandma, does that have to be the end?'

With her free hand, Sarah took off her reading glasses. 'You tell me Alanna, do you want that to be the end?'

'No, the princess wouldn't let the prince just take her anywhere without knowing where she was going first.' She smiled up at her grandmother, the missing tooth in the front only making her more adorable as it caused her to speak with a small lisp.

Sarah smiled, leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. 'I tell you what, why don't you think about how you want the story and either draw or write it out while I'll go make us a snack. How does that sound?'

Alanna nodded quickly. 'Sounds good!' She hopped up and pulled out her colouring book and crayons. 'I'll draw it for you, Grandma.'

'Perfect, I'll be right back.'

Alanna stretched out in the floor, legs bent at the knees, feet swinging back and forth in no particular rhythm with her colouring book and crayons laid out in front of her. She concentrated deeply on the different colours, making sure she chose the exact right one.

She didn't even look up as a young main with floppy hair, a tweed jacket and bow tie knelt next to her. 'Hi Grandpa,' she said with a smile as she continued to stare at her picture.

'Grandpa? I'm not your Grandpa! The little girl I left behind was barely a day old. You're all grown up.'

Alanna looked up at him. 'Silly Grandpa, I'm only six.'

He reached out and tapped her on the nose. 'Six? As much as that? Six is a very important number I'll have you know.'

She sighed dramatically. 'Grandpa!'

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'I've never been called Grandpa before. Grandfather, yes, but that was centuries ago. Oh well, I suppose there's a first for everything!'

She ignored his words and just handed him a crayon. 'Wanna help?'

He sat down next to her, noticing the blue box she'd drawn on the page. 'Sure, what are we drawing?'

'Grandma was telling me a story about a young princess who sneaked away on a prince's ship, but that he found her. Then they went on lots of adventures, but that they never knew where they were going to end up and whether it would be a good place or bad.'

'Oh that's silly, the prince always knew where they were going.'

'The prince did not,' Sarah's voice caused them both to turn around and look at her as she smiled and leaned against the doorframe.

'Sarah Jane!' the Doctor exclaimed, a wide grin crossing his features. 'How long have you been standing there?' He stood up quickly and went and embraced Sarah in a warm hug, picking her up and spinning her around before putting her back down, pulling back and kissing her on the forehead.

Sarah just shook her head. 'That's just unfair, Doctor.'

He reached up and pulled at a piece of his hair. 'I know, I was really hoping for ginger this time.'

'No, I mean you look like you're twelve, why can't you have an older face this time?' She reached out and tweaked the bow tie. 'And what's with this? You've not worn a bow tie since the velvet and ruffles.'

'You like it? Bow ties are cool, I should've worn them more often. Certainly less likely to kill me than that long scarf.'

Alanna cleared her throat loudly as she sat up on the sofa. 'Grandpa,' she said, the seriousness on her face more than evident. 'Stop thinking so loudly.' She frowned, 'We all know Grandma is beautiful, you don't have to shout.'

The Doctor looked from the little girl to Sarah and back. Sarah blushed from Alanna's comment, but only shrugged. 'She seems to have inherited her mother's telepathic skills,' Sarah said softly.

The Doctor went back and knelt in front of Alanna, 'What else did she inherit?' he asked absently. 'No more heart troubles, I assume then?'

'No, that kick start you gave her with the regeneration energy seemed to do the trick.' Sarah stood behind him with her arms crossed. 'How long has it been?'

'Since when?'

'You know when. It's been six years for us, how long for you?'

The Doctor stood up and put up his hands, flicking his fingers as if counting. 'Oh, enough, enough. You know how it is, Sarah, you lose count after a while.'

'And the whole prophecy thing?'

He gave her an impish smile. 'Nothing a good regeneration didn't cure.' He looked around the room. 'So, you've got the grandkids to tell the stories to now, just like I said you would at Deffry Vale.'

'And you knew this then, didn't you?'

He didn't answer her question directly, but instead smiled. 'Oh the Universe can be kind sometimes. Isn't it amazing? Sarah, don't think I didn't notice. This. Here, right now. Alanna, sitting on the floor, colouring. You, standing in the doorway. It's just like what I saw in the Matrix, except with Alanna instead of with Sue.'

Sarah nodded, 'I noticed. You couldn't go back and get that time back with Sue, but maybe you have an opportunity now to get to know Alanna.' She smiled, 'We are your family, Doctor.'

'You are my anchor, Sarah Jane.' He looked around. 'So, where's Sue then?'

'She had to go out of town for a couple of days, so Alan went with her. Gives me an excuse to spend time with my favourite granddaughter.'

'I'm your only granddaughter, Grandma.' Alanna looked from the Doctor to Sarah and back to the Doctor. She sighed and clamped a hand over her eyes. 'Oh go ahead and kiss her, Grandpa, you know you want to.'

The Doctor laughed, 'And how do you know that then? Maybe I just really love your Grandma?'

'Daddy says when you really love somebody, like he really loves Mummy that you kiss them.'

'Oh, really?' The Doctor bent down and holding both of Alanna's cheeks, kissed her forehead and then each one of her cheeks. 'There.'

She shook her head. 'Grandpa, that's not what I meant. You have to kiss Grandma like Daddy kisses Mummy.'

'And what if I don't want to? Hmm? What then?' The Doctor watched her pause, a frown forming. He reached down and tweaked her chin, 'I'm only kidding, sweetheart. You really want me to kiss Grandma?'

When Alanna nodded and smiled, he stood up straight and walked over to wrap Sarah in a warm hug. 'You heard what Alanna said Grandma, who are we to disappoint her?'

Sarah simply shook her head as she suppressed a laugh at the seeming absurdity of it all. The Doctor reached up and held her face in his hands. 'I honestly didn't think I would survive to ever see you again, Sarah.' He ran his thumbs along her cheeks. 'I'm so glad I was wrong. In all of the Universe, of all the things I've seen, you are one of the best things this set of eyes could ever look upon.'

Sarah couldn't stop the tears from beginning to form, even as her smile grew. 'Doctor, you can shut up and kiss me now.'

He smiled at her acceptance of him, even in yet another new form. He leaned in and gave her a gentle, warm kiss, filled with centuries of affection and caring.

Neither of them paid attention as Alanna just sat and watched them, a large smile plastered on her face.


	23. EPILOGUE

_A/N: Thank you to all of you who have read and responded these last few months! Your comments have kept me going!  
_

EPILOGUE

FIFTY-FIVE YEARS LATER

Alanna stood at the edge of the cemetery, an umbrella protecting her from the misty rain. It had been six months since her father died, and in those months, Alanna knew that her mother visited the cemetery every day. She sighed as she looked across and saw the frail form of Susan kneel in front of Alan's headstone. Since Alanna's aging joints were complaining about the damp weather, she knew it couldn't possibly be good for her mother to be out in it either.

Susan absently ran a hand through her silver wavy hair, ignoring the rain falling around her. She knelt down and patted the headstone absently. She thought back to the day he died, which still came back fresh to her mind as if it had been yesterday. She ran her hands along Alan's name, then reached up and wiped away a tear.

She used her cane to stand up as straight as her aged form would allow, which wasn't very. 'Alan, there's no one I would've preferred spending my life with than you. You made it worth taking the slow path.'

As Alanna saw Susan stand up, she walked over to her. She gently put a hand on Susan's shoulder. 'Mum, you really shouldn't be out in this weather. It's not good for you.'

Susan looked over at Alanna and frowned. 'Nonsense, Alanna, this is fine weather.' She looked at her daughter and saw through her words. 'You just think I'm too old to be out here.'

Alanna sighed. 'All right, fine, yes, I do. Is it wrong for me to think that way? You are 98 years old, and it is not fit for anyone to be out in this mess, much less you.'

Susan held up her cane and shook it slightly at Alanna 'You insist on looking at things from a strictly human perspective. Remember your heritage, it's not that simple. I may be a lot of things young lady, but I am still your mother, and I am more than capable of looking after myself.'

'Right, whatever you say, Mum.' Alanna gently turned Susan away from Alan's grave towards the waiting car. 'Let's get you home, all right?'

It was Susan's turn to sigh. 'Fine.'

The ride back to the house was silent, but as they pulled into the drive, Alanna didn't get out of the car. Susan continued to stare out the window. Finally, Alanna turned to Susan. 'Mum, I know you miss him. I do too. Just cause you're half alien doesn't mean that you don't have the same emotions humans do.'

'He stood by me through so much, Alanna, I don't think you could ever understand what it was like, especially right at the beginning. He put up with more than anyone else would've done.'

'What are you going to do now?' Alanna asked.

Susan turned to her, a smile on her face. 'Ah ha, the truth now.'

'What?' Alanna turned away from her mother. 'Must you always use your telepathy?'

'Just because you choose to ignore it doesn't change the fact that it's there.' Susan reached out and took Alanna's hand in hers. 'You feel that I'm not technically tied to Earth any more, so you want to know what I'm going to do.'

Alanna frowned. 'Can you blame me? I just lost my father, I don't want to lose my mother too.'

Susan reached out and took Alanna's hand. 'You're not going to lose me, sweetheart. In all likelihood, I'll outlive you. Besides, I wouldn't do anything stupid that would put my life at risk.'

'You mean like Grandma or Grandpa and their reckless lifestyle?'

'It's their choice. Oh they have their bright shining moments. Travelling the Universe, trying desperately to stay out trouble.' Susan frowned. 'Speaking of, have you heard from them lately?'

Alanna just shook her head. 'Nope. The two of them worry me sometimes, but it's so hard to follow because they're not living life in a straight line.'

'The joys of time travel,' Susan said with a smile. 'They left forty years ago, pop back for something important or for a quick visit. I have no idea how long it's been since they left. Mum didn't look much older last time I saw her.'

'It confuses me,' Alanna admitted. 'I can't keep it straight.'

'And I think they enjoy keeping you on your toes.' They both laughed as they got out of the car and headed towards the house. Alanna started heading for the front door, but Susan stopped. 'I'll be in shortly. I need to check on something in my TARDIS.'

'I'll make some tea and bring it out.'

'Why don't you just make it in the TARDIS galley then?'

Alanna shrugged. 'Sure, why not?' They both walked around back, Susan going fairly slowly, using her cane to support her.

The back shed stood as a welcome sight for Susan. Opening the door, she ushered Alanna in before entering and closing the door behind them. Susan took a deep breath as she looked around her bright and airy console room, bluish-green roundels covering the walls. 'Ah, home sweet home, where I can be myself.'

Alanna watched as Susan walked up the ramp towards the console, standing straight as she walked, not using her cane, the hunched over appearance of mere moments before having disappeared. 'You know, Mum, one of these days, you're going to get caught. Being outside in this crazy weather might be a red flag to someone.'

Susan laughed as she pulled off the wig she was wearing, the grey hair now gone and her normal wavy brown hair in its place. She also began pulling off the facial prosthetics, dropping them into a small container, revealing much younger skin beneath the surface. She opened her mouth and moved her jaw, stretching the muscles. 'Nonsense, I've gotten very good at this over the years.' She walked back over towards the hat rack, tossed her cane onto one of the rungs and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Patting her cheeks and smiling, she said, 'Yep, still look like I was fifty!'

'That is so wrong,' Alanna admitted. 'You look younger than I do!'

'Your aging at the normal human rate, although I was hoping you'd get a bit of a slow down.' She ran a hand through her hair to loosen it from where the wig had weighed it down. 'At least I am aging, albeit slowly. I don't regenerate, unlike your Grandpa. Your Grandma told me about faces he's worn that made him look like a teenager.'

Alanna nodded. 'I know there was one of him I met when I was six that Grandma fussed about, but the main version of him I remember is the one that Grandma is with now.' She walked up to the console with the equipment from various centuries and planets all functioning as necessary. She turned one of the dials and read the results. 'I still have trouble wrapping my brain around this whole wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing.'

Susan shrugged, 'Mum didn't want to take the linear path after a while. I can't say as I blame her. Now that your father is gone, I don't have a reason to do it myself. I can just skip ahead or back to the more interesting bits.' She looked over at Alanna. 'I'd ask you to come with me, but I know you can't.'

Alanna shook her head. 'No, my kids would never understand.' She laughed. 'They already think their Nanna is crazy.'

Susan laughed, 'There's no other way to be! Now, how about that tea?'

After Alanna went to make the tea, Susan reached out and patted the console lovingly, 'It's just about time, my girl,' she said softly. She jumped as she heard a knock on the door. She walked around the console and looked at the monitor to see who was outside. She frowned as she saw a young man with floppy hair, wearing a bow tie and a tweed jacket. 'C'mon Sue, I know you're in there,' he said as he banged on the door again.

She shook her head and smiled as she recognised the familiar tap against her mind. It had been a while since she'd last felt it. She opened the door. 'Come in, Doctor.'

He walked in and within a few strides, he had swept her up into an enormous hug. He pulled back and held her at arm's length, before leaning in and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. 'You look incredible, Sue!'

She gestured at his appearance. 'This is the regeneration that looks like you're twelve! Mum told me about you. That is unfair.' At his hurt expression, she continued, 'I must say though, it's been a long time, and I'm glad to see you. I always feel bad if I haven't seen all your incarnations.'

The Doctor bounced on the balls of his feet as he turned his attention to the console. 'Oh, she is gorgeous,' he said, running his hands gently across the controls. He reached out and placed both hands on one of the sensors, allowing it to scan him. He closed his eyes and Susan only watched as he finished his task. Finally, he looked up at Susan and smiled. 'The_Rassilon Imprimatur_ is all set now, making her fully functional.' He patted the console affectionately, 'She suits you.'

'Well, even with the quick grow that allowed her to protect Mum and I from the Master, she took quite a while to complete. Finding a suitable environment and then the time for the seven full growth cycles. You might've warned me about that.' She shook her head gently. 'It's a good thing I've lived a very long time.' She reached out and tweaked a couple of levers on the console. 'You came here now because of the Imprimatur?'

He nodded, then asked, 'How long has it been, Sue?'

'Since when? Since I started growing my TARDIS, since I last saw you, since Alan died?' She sighed. 'I've begun hating this slow passage of time. Too many dull patches between the interesting bits.'

'I know the feeling,' he said softly before loudly clapping his hands and rubbing them together. 'So, catch me up. On all those things you mentioned.'

Susan crossed over and sat in the jump seat. It was reminiscent of the TARDIS she travelled in with the Doctor all those years previously. 'Well, I don't know how much I can tell you.'

The Doctor nodded. 'You've seen later versions of me, haven't you?'

Susan laughed. 'Spoilers, Doctor. That's what you get when you do things out of order.'

'Therein lies the fun, Sue. What's the right order for me is different order for you, for Sarah, for Alanna. Who's to say whose order is correct?'

'Did I just hear my name?' Alanna called as she walked back into the console room carrying a tray with the accoutrements for tea. She gaped as she saw the young man with the bow tie standing in front of her. 'Grandpa?'

'In the flesh,' he said with a smile.

Alanna gestured at the Doctor but spoke to Susan. 'He's out of order again, isn't he?'

'Of course, he wouldn't know any better,' Susan answered with a smile.

'Oi! Still in the room!' the Doctor exclaimed, looking back and forth from Susan to Alanna. He walked over and tapped Alanna on the nose as he looked down at the tray she was carrying. 'Oh, Jammie Dodgers,' he picked one off the plate and bit into it. 'I love Jammie Dodgers.'

Alanna looked at her mother and knew instinctively what Susan was going to ask, even before she said it. Even though she dreaded it, she knew she couldn't blame her mother. She closed her eyes, even as Susan started to speak.

'Doctor,' Susan started. 'I'm done with this slow path.'

He nodded. 'I know, that's why I'm here.'

'For advice or pointers or what?'

He smiled, 'Only to remind you of one thing.'

'What's that?'

He walked over and threw an arm around her shoulder. 'Have fun, and remember that the order works itself out later.'

THE END


End file.
